Joker: Folie à Deuxhas officially fallen farther than any other comic book movie in at least one noteworthy metric.
The hype surrounding the once highly anticipated sequel to 2019’sJokerhas been on a steady decline ever since the initial, lukewarm reactions to it started to come following its world premiere at the Venice International Film Festival in early September. A month later, the film has received largely negative reviews from both critics and casual viewers alike. It is alsoexpected to fall shortin its first weekend of its predecessor’s $96 million box office opening.
On top of all of that,Joker: Folie à Deuxhas now reportedly earned aD CinemaScore. That meanstheJokersequelhas officially surpassed 2015’s infamously badFantastic Four, which earned a C- grade as the lowest-rated comic book movie in CinemaScore history.
For comparison’s sake,Jokeracquired a B+ rating when it was released in 2019. Sony’sMadame Web, furthermore, recorded a C+ grade when it was released to overwhelmingly scathing reviews earlier this year.
A few months ago, it would have seemed outlandish to suggest thatJoker: Folie à Deuxwould perform this badly with moviegoers. But that’s not the case anymore. The sequel, which builds from whereJokerleft off by incorporating elements from both the musical and courtroom genres, was already shaping up in recent weeks to be one of 2024’s least-liked films. Its historically low CinemaScore rating andlackluster box office openingonly confirm the validity of that projection.
It is still a bit surprising to seeJoker: Folie à Deuxfall so short of its predecessor in nearly every measurable way. The firstJokersurprised everyone by not only earning over $1 billion at the box office but also multiple Academy Award nominations and a few wins. Joaquin Phoenix even took home the Best Actor Oscar in 2020 for his lead performance asArthur Fleck.
Warner Bros. no doubt hoped thatFolie à Deuxwould be able to, at the very least, come close to replicating its parent film’s success, but that’s looking less and less likely every day.
