Posted in: Box Office, Movies | Tagged: Joker: Folie à Deux, lionsgate, Weekend Box Office

Joker: Folie à Deux Completely Underwhelms In Its Opening Weekend

Joker: Folie à Deux will win the weekend box office, but nobody at Warner Bros. will be celebrating. At least they aren't Lionsgate right now.

Published Sun, 06 Oct 2024 13:57:08 -0500

by Jeremy Konrad

Comments

Article Summary

Joker: Folie à Deux disappoints with $40 million opening, less than half of the original's debut.
Despite Joker's poor performance, box office up 25% from last year's same weekend.
Lionsgate struggles with six flops since August, all failing to impress at the box office.
Terrifier 3 might dethrone Joker next weekend with its strong momentum.

Joker: Folie à Deux was the fall's big hope from WB, as they expected it to do big numbers and continue the momentum they had from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice at the box office. Well, they can claim the number one spot, but there is no way they are happy today. Joker opens with $40 million, less than half what the original opened with. Even those who read the tea leaves and saw the negative reviews and fan response from early screenings didn't think it would get THAT low. The CinemaScore for the film is a "D," which tanked the grosses as the weekend continued. All around, this is a poor result, and yet again, in 2024, audiences have rejected an unnecessary sequel.

Joker Disappoints, But Box Office Was Still Up Overall

While Joker let the box office down, overall, the weekend was up 25% from the same weekend last year. So, before anyone can say this Joker stuff is because nobody wants to go to theaters anymore, you are wrong. You don't need to look any further than second and third place this week. Second place saw The Wild Robot hold exceptionally well, adding $18.7 million in its second weekend, while WB got another excellent hold from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, with another stronghold and another $10.3 million. Imagine if WB didn't have that movie this year, yikes. Fourth place was Transformers One with $5.3 million; rounding out the top five was Speak No Evil with $$2.8 million.

Outside the top five and Joker's disappointment, what the hell is happening over at Lionsgate? They had their sixth opening since August 1st go wide this weekend, White Bird: A Wonder Story, and like the other five, it bombed, only making $1.5 million. Lionsgate openings since August 1st:

Borderlands- $8.6 million
The Crow- $4.6 million
The Killer's Game- $2.6 million
Never Let Go- $4.5 million
Megalopolis- $4 million
White Bird- $1.5 million

Combined opening gross: $25.8 million, barely a quarter of the budget of Borderlands. That is an epically bad stretch of box office right there. Oof.

The weekend box office top five for October 4th:

Joker: Folie à Deux- $40 million
The Wild Robot- $18.7 million
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice- $10.3 million
Transformers One- $5.3 million
Speak No Evil- $2.8 million

Terrifier 3 Teaser Trailer Will Drop This Wednesday — TERRIFIER 3 | Photo Credit: Jesse Korman; Courtesy of Dark Age Cinema

Next weekend, I didn't think this was possible, but Joker is probably not going to be number one. Three films open trying to knock it off its perch, as Jason Reitman's Saturday Night goes wide, Super/Man: The Christopher Reeve Story goes wide, and the movie I think might win the weekend, Terrifier 3. The momentum Terrifier has heading into its opening is crazy, and with Joker getting such bad word of mouth, I think it will drop more than 50%, and Art The Clown will win the weekend with $18 million.

Enjoyed this? Please share on social media!