Joker: Folie à Deux continues to bleed profusely at the box office, and it appears neither Warner Bros. nor DC Studios will get a proverbial band-aid to patch things up. A new report projects serious pain for both studios once the sequel’s theatrical run ends.
According to Forbes, Folie à Deux isn’t expected to land a much-needed surge at the box office after an underwhelming opening weekend which saw the anticipated Joker follow-up perform worse than some notable recent comic book movie duds. The sequel is expected to suffer above-average weekly declines, putting its projected final worldwide box-office figure between $250 million and $275 million. The reported forecast puts the film’s second-weekend decline between 60% and 70%. According to reports, the movie needs to hit $450 million just to break even.
The projected final numbers for Folie à Deux spell doom for Warner Bros. and DC Studios considering the sequel’s $200 million budget, which doesn’t include marketing costs. A little over a quarter of that budget was spent on the salaries of director Todd Phillips and his main stars, Joaquin Phoenix and Stefani “Lady Gaga” Germanotta. Phoenix and Phillips each pocketed $20 million soon after the sequel’s confirmation, while Germanotta earned a payday of $12 million. The budget is nearly three times that of the original Joker ($70 million), which became the highest-grossing R-rated film ever before being recently surpassed by Deadpool & Wolverine. Folie à Deux is also the latest in a slew of failed comic book films for Warner/DC, with eight of the last nine DC Extended Universe films falling below $400 million worldwide.