With reference to Heath Ledger’s iconic portrayal of the iconic jester villain, perhaps someone ought to be scribbling, “Why so serious?”, on the transparent entrances of Warner Bros Discovery’s offices this week. The higher-ups there are pondering over the disappointing box-office performance of Joker: Folie à Deux. With a disastrous opening weekend of $37.7 million (34.6 million) and the largest second-weekend dip in revenue for a DC film (81 per cent), the global box office sits at a meagre $165 million. This contrast is stark, considering the original 2019 film’s staggering one billion dollar earnings, the highest ever for a film rated R.
The Joker, despite being a source of mayhem, is much-loved among comic book foes, with a legacy as grand as Batman, bringing the enormity of this financial blunder to the fore. The Joker: Folie à Deux, afflicted by negative reviews, is projected to make losses ranging from $125 million to $200 million, depending on which predicted budget is trusted. A widely speculated $300 million production and marketing budget seems to be the film’s greatest hindrance, as breaking even would necessitate earnings of as much as $475 million. This is in stark contrast to the first film’s prudent budget of $60 million.
$300 million is indeed a colossal figure, visible on screen as director Todd Phillips and lead actor Joaquin Phoenix took home paychecks of $20 million each. Supporting actress Lady Gaga earned $12 million; these salaries totalled more than a quarter of the production budget. Despite appealing lighting and cinematography, the film’s climax wasn’t overly extravagant. Set primarily in Arkham State Hospital and a courtroom, there are virtually no complex CGI explosion-filled sequences to justify the lavish spending. The most plausible reason seems to be a high-risk gamble for a definite blockbuster as cinemas prepared to reopen post-pandemic.
Phillips and Phoenix’s decision to transform their movie into a musical, which they had once thought of as suitable for Broadway, appears all the more startling. Even on the drawing board, such a genre doesn’t guarantee the revenue that the budget demands, barring children’s animated films. Moreover, the switch from realism toward a dissonant, farcical musical was not expected to resonate with the Joker’s core fanbase, let alone those who were enchanted by its portrayal of embittered loners. And having Lady Gaga play a key role – well as she performs – is not in line with their usual liking for undeniably attractive yet mentally unstable portrayals of Harley Quinn.
It isn’t for Phillips and Phoenix to bear the blame for their film entering the scene amidst the downturn that’s hit both DC and Marvel superhero movies. It’s not their fault either that it lacked the excitement that the Joker brought to the table when it was released during the Trump era in 2019. Despite conjuring themes of emasculation, oppression, entertainment-fueled empathy, and potential despotism with a similar enthusiasm to exploitation films, using parallels to Scorsese’s iconic films Taxi Driver and King of Comedy, the sombre sequel struggles to harness that same spirit. It largely focuses on dissecting the Joker character in a grim manner and continually delivering straightforward takeaways about America’s obsession with fame.
Phillips had clearly aimed to amend his ways after the initial film, which was criticized for pandering to toxic fans. Making Arthur Fleck decisively reject the Joker as a sorry emotional prop is a clear way to convey this intention.
In openly scolding the fan community, the move was essentially self-sabotaging at the box office, possibly the reason the director declined to pre-screen Joker: Folie à Deux. Seemingly, the freedom offered by a $300 million budget led Phillips to make the error of considering his film to be of the auteur variety. With leadership changes occurring at Warner and DC during its production, he purportedly managed to execute the film with minimal supervision. As per Variety’s report, Phillips dismissed the proposition of collaborating with new DC authorities James Gunn and Peter Safran, citing the film as mainly a Warner Bros’ venture. Additionally, he resisted the new Warner President, David Zaslav’s, proposal to decrease the budget which included relocating the shoot to London from Los Angeles.
The downfall of the film will certainly have further consequences for the struggling DC and industries beyond. This kind of abstract gamble is likely to be forbidden in big-budget films for the foreseeable future. It leaves one to speculate whether this would lead to more restrained reimagining of other recurring characters, like Bond. It remains unanswered whether this massive failure would evoke contemplation in Hollywood about overexploiting popular intellectual property until there’s nothing left. It could be debated whether Phillip’s delay in transitioning from realism to expressionism was due to this being the Joker’s fifth major appearance in just over 15 years.
Phillip, with his 1970s landmarks, might currently regard the Folie à Deux fiasco as a significant act of rebellion within the mainstream movie industry, akin to the chaotic activities of Bob Rafelson and Bert Schneider’s BBS establishment. Alternatively, the film’s tone and message might have simply been prematurely unveiled. Despite it having impactful scenes, such as Fleck’s ultimate involuntary laughter after discarding his alter ego implying deep-seated violence embedded in America’s heart. Should Donald Trump be re-elected or challenge a potential Kamala Harris presidency, Phillip’s feast of psychological repulsion might seem appalleningly prophetic. The question remains, would that be a win in the end? – Guardian