There’s no sugarcoating it. Things have not gone well for Joker: Folie à Deux. Critics don’t seem to care for it. The few movie-goers that have seen it haven’t cared for it. But it’s not only struggled to entertain people — the Joker sequel isn’t generating money.
After the original posted a domestic opening weekend box office total north of $96 million in October of 2019, Joker: Folie à Deux only generated $37,678,467 domestically to open up its run in the theaters. Combined with its international numbers, Joker: Folie à Deux has reeled in a total of $114 million on a $200 million budget. (The original had a $55 million, for what it’s worth.)
Joker: Folie à Deux’s flop in the U.S. is a hard one. Yet somehow, it’s still not among the 10 worst opening weekend box office performances among Marvel and DC movies. Factoring in the qualifiers mentioned below, it comes in at No. 11.
Here are said qualifiers:
- This list is post-Iron Man/Dark Knight (2008).
- Wonder Woman 1984 ($16,701,95) and The New Mutants ($7,037,017) were excluded from consideration because both were released during the 2020 shutdown.
- The Suicide Squad ($26,205,415) was also excluded since it was released in theaters and on Max simultaneously.
- Animated movies were not considered.
- Comic book titles from smaller publishers — such as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Crow and Judge Dredd — were not considered for this list.
- Source for opening weekend box office numbers: Box Office Mojo.
Now, here’s a look at the 10 lowest domestic opening weekend box office performances from Marvel and DC properties, starting with the 10th-lowest amount.
10. X-Men: Dark Phoenix
Opening Weekend: $32,828,348
Much like X-Men: The Last Stand, FOX managed to butcher the Dark Phoenix Saga yet again this go-round. From this era of X-Men movies, this had the lowest domestic opening weekend and overall final box office ($65,845,974). These dips also came after X-Men: Apocalypse — the soft reboot’s third movie — generated more in its opening weekend and overall than its predecessor, X-Men: First Class (albeit a small increase).
9. Shazam! Fury of the Gods
Opening Weekend: $30,111,158
The original Shazam! was a nice surprise, reeling in over $53 million in its opening weekend and over $140 million overall. The sequel not only struggled in its opening weekend, it also only finished up with a total of $57,638,006.
8. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom
Opening Weekend: $27,686,211
Much like Joker, it might’ve been best for DC to cut bait after the original Aquaman reeled in over $335 million. That’s not because of Jason Mamoa’s portrayal of the character. Aquaman just isn’t a particularly popular superhero.
7. Fantastic Four (2015)
Opening Weekend: $25,685,737
This one is particularly interesting because of its predecessors. The 2005 Fantastic Four movie that featured Chris Evans and Jessica Alba opened with $56,061,504 then finished with $154,696,080. The sequel saw about a $2 million opening weekend increase but a $20 million overall dip.
The 2015 version only generated $56,117,548 over its full run in theaters.
6. Blue Beetle
Opening Weekend: $25,030,225
This movie was done in by the news around James Gunn taking over DC and rebooting things. It only finished up at $72,488,072 by the end of its theatrical run, but it deserved more.
5. Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
Opening Weekend: $22,115,334
Ghost Rider, the character, deserved better. This movie did not. After the original Ghost Rider opened to $45,388,836, the sequel only finished up with $51,774,002 at the end of its theatrical run.
4. Madame Web
Opening Weekend: $15,335,860
Joker: Folie à Deux may give Madame Web a run for its money when it comes to reception, but the DC flop still doubled-up with Sony Marvel production in its opening weekend. It’s still a wonder that this thing got made. Here’s hoping Sony gets the hint soon!
3. The Losers
Opening Weekend: $9,406,348
Another movie that deserved better.
Without getting too in the weeds, The Losers is a Vertigo comic, which is an imprint of DC. (Also the home of The Sandman and John Constantine.) This movie features Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba, Zoe Saldana and Chris Evans. While not a revolutionary movie, this may have gotten a lot more recognition if it had been a streaming original — a la The Old Guard. But, that wasn’t a thing when this came out in 2010.
2. Jonah Hex
Opening Weekend: $5.3 million
This DC movie has quite the cast: Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Michael Fassbender, Will Arnett and Michael Shannon. Not sure what the budget was on this thing, but sheesh. It only finished up with $10,547,117.
1. Punisher: War Zone
Opening Weekend: $4,271,451
I often forget this movie exists.
