JOKER FOLIE A DEUX cant beat The Marvels & Morbius at Box Office

Even though it opened No. 1 with $40 million, “Joker: Folie à Deux,” a genre-bending sequel to the billion-dollar comic book smash, grossed poorly.

Due to discordant domestic ticket sales, initial projections of $50 million to $65 million were revised down in the weeks since “Joker 2” began pre-release tracking with $70 million. Opening weekend revenues were much lower than 2019's "Joker," which set an October record with $96.2 million a half-decade earlier. This start is disastrous for Warner Bros. given the blockbuster success of the original and the likelihood that poor word-of-mouth will doom its big-screen staying power. This is problematic because the R-rated sequel costs $200 million (the first film cost $65 million). According to financial sources, “Folie à Deux” needs $450 million to break even.