“Joker: Folie à Deux” partial poster.
Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s Joker: Folie à Deux opens in theaters this weekend. How soon will it be coming to streaming?
Joker: Folie à Deux, of course, is the hotly anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Joker, which earned 11 Academy Award nominations, including Best Picture, and Phoenix a Best Actor Oscar.
The film also became the first R-rated film, per Box Office Mojo, to gross more than $1 billion worldwide—a distinction it now only shares with Deadpool & Wolverine.
What Is ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ About?
The new film finds Phoenix’s character, Arthur Fleck, institutionalized at Arkham Asylum while he’s awaiting trial for the crimes he committed as his clown makeup-wearing alter-ego from the first film, simply known as Joker.
While in Arkham, Arthur meets his true love, Lee Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), and at the same time the music he’s been harboring deep within.
As such, co-writer and director Todd Phillips has turned the crime thriller theme in Joker into a crime thriller/jukebox musical with Joker: Folie à Deux.
Joker: Folie à Deux plays in previews Thursday evening before opening in theaters nationwide on Friday. The only way you will be able to see Joker: Folie à Deux to begin with is on the big screen, so check your local theater listings for showtimes.
When Will ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Debut On Digital Streaming?
Once Joker: Folie à Deux hits the home entertainment market, the first way you will be able to see the movie is on digital streaming via premium video on demand. PVOD is offered on a variety of different digital platforms, including Prime Video, AppleTV+, VUDU, YouTube and Google Play.
PVOD purchase prices typically range from $24.99 to $29.99, while 48-hour PVOD rentals typically range from $19.99 to $24.99.
While the time it takes for a theatrical release to debut on PVOD generally depends on how a film performs in theaters financially, Warner Bros. seems to be narrowing its window when it comes to its theatrical opening and the film’s availability to stream at home.
For example, the studio’s latest wide release—Beetlejuice Beetlejuice—debuted in theaters on September 6 and burned up the box office with $134.5 million in global ticket sales in its opening weekend and sits at $376.7 million worldwide through Wednesday.
Even with the big box office success of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, though, the film is set to debut on PVOD on October 8, just a little over a month after its theatrical debut.
As of Wednesday, it appears that the R-rated Joker: Folie à Deux will open in the same neighborhood worldwide as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. Variety projects that the Joker sequel will make somewhere between $50 million to $65 million domestically and $80 million to $85 million internationally for an opening weekend between $130 million to $150 million worldwide.
So, if Joker: Folie à Deux follows the same box office trajectory as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, the film could possibly be available on digital streaming in just over a month, on Tuesday, November 5, or Friday, November 8, since new PVOD titles are generally are released on Tuesdays and Fridays.
One factor that pushes back the PVOD window, however, is Joker: Folie à Deux’s price tag. Per The Numbers, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice cost $100 million to produce before prints and advertising, while Variety noted that Joker: Folie à Deux had a production budget of $200 million before P&A.
Another thing that could push back the PVOD debut of Joker: Folie à Deux is if the film gets legs akin to 2019’s Joker, which ended up, per Variety, grossing $1.07 billion worldwide.
As such, if Joker: Folie à Deux has a blockbuster run akin to something like Warner Bros.’ smash hit Dune: Part Two, then the PVOD wait could be a couple of weeks longer. Released on March 1, it took Dune: Part Two about six weeks (47 days) from the time the film opened in theaters to its debut on PVOD on April 16.
So, if Joker: Folie à Deux has a similar sort of success, it may not be available on PVOD until about Tuesday, November 19.
Which Subscription Streaming Service Will Get ‘Joker: Folie A Deux’ First?
After its debut on PVOD, the next home entertainment stop for Joker: Folie à Deux will be on Max since the film is a Warner Bros. release. All of the studio’s releases make their streaming video on demand debuts on Max because it is Warner Bros. Discovery’s streaming platform.
You must be a Max subscriber to watch Joker: Folie à Deux on the streaming video on demand service. Max has three different subscription tiers for customers: $9.99 per month with ads, $16.99 per month without ads and $20.99 per month for the 4K Ultra HD format without ads.
The number of days it takes a Warner Bros. release to debut on Max varies. If Joker: Folie à Deux follows the same release pattern as Dune: Part Two—it took 74 days from the time the sci-fi hit was released in theaters (March 1) until it debuted on Max (May 14)—then Joker: Folie à Deux could debut on Max sometime the week beginning December 15.
Sometimes, though, the window to SVOD on Max is a bit longer. Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga took 84 days from the time it debuted in theaters (May 22) until it premiered on SVOD on Max (August 16).
So, if Joker: Folie à Deux follows the Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga release pattern, then fans can expect to see it on Max sometime during the week of December 22.
While fans are waiting for Joker: Folie à Deux to stream on Max, they can see 2019’s Joker on Max.
Rated R, Joker: Folie à Deux plays in previews on Thursday night before opening Friday in theaters nationwide.