“Joker: Folie à Deux” is off to a shaky performance at the domestic box office after earning $20 million from 4,102 locations across Friday and preview screenings. Rivals project that Warner Bros.’ sequel to the 2019 DC Comic book film “Joker” will open south of $50 million.
Heading into the weekend, “Joker 2” was expected to make $50 million to $65 million in its box office debut. Although the film is on track to secure the top spot on domestic charts, the first “Joker” scored a significantly higher $96.2 million in its opening weekend.
Joaquin Phoenix’s titular Batman villain is back in “Joker: Folie à Deux,” and he’s now joined by Lady Gaga as the equally insane Harley Quinn. While the first movie was a gritty character study that won Phoenix the Oscar for best actor, “Folie à Deux” switches things up and serves as a twisted musical and love story from the minds of Joker and Harley. With Gaga’s vocals on display, the movie also expanded its cast with Brendan Gleeson, Harry Lawtey, Catherine Keener and more.
2019’s “Joker” made an astounding $1.07 billion at the global box office from a tiny $65 million budget; “Folie à Deux,” on the other hand, carries a $200 million price tag and hasn’t received as many positive reviews as its predecessor. The sequel earned a “D” grade through research firm CinemaScore’s survey of early crowds.
Several holdovers rounded out the top five on box office charts. “The Wild Robot” dropped to second place with $4.9 million from 3,997 locations on its second Friday, down 56% from its opening day. Universal and DreamWorks Animation’s sci-fi adventure film has now surpassed $50 million domestically.
In third place, Tim Burton and Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” scared up $2.7 million from 3,576 theaters on Friday. The spooky sequel, now in its fifth weekend of release, has surpassed $250 million at the domestic box office.
“Transformers One” took the No. 4 spot after earning $1.3 million on its third Friday from 3,106 locations. The animated prequel, co-produced by Paramount Animation and Hasbro Entertainment, is on track to make $5.5 million over the weekend, down 39% from its sophomore outing.
In fifth place, “Speak No Evil,” Universal and Blumhouse’s remake of the 2022 Danish horror film, is looking at $2.8 million in its fourth weekend of release after grossing $840,000 on Friday.
Also opening this weekend, Lionsgate’s “White Bird,” a prequel and sequel to the Jacob Tremblay-starring “Wonder” from 2017, earned an estimated $660,000 from 1,018 locations on its opening day.