Recent reports speculate that Warner Bros. and its co-financiers could lose a combined total of almost $200 million on Joker: Folie à Deux, the big-budget comic bomb starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. The film has struggled to stay afloat at the box office, after debuting with tremendously disappointing numbers a couple of weeks ago. But despite its hugely underwhelming performance, it has generated enough revenue to propel director Todd Phillips up the rankings of the highest-grossing filmmakers of all time.
With just $53 million domestically and around $112 million from overseas markets, Joker: Folie à Deux’s cumulative global haul stands at $166 million in 12 days of release. This wouldn’t be a shabby result otherwise, but the movie cost a massive $200 million to produce. Projected to conclude its theatrical run with a little over $200 million worldwide, the film won’t come close to its reported break-even point of over $400 million. Nevertheless, Phillips remains one of the most successful filmmakers in history, with a career box office gross of $3.336 billion.
He recently overtook the legendary Clint Eastwood in the all-time standings. Eastwood has a movie coming out himself. Also distributed by Warner Bros., Juror No. 2 could help him regain his lost position if it does well enough, because there currently isn’t much separating him from Phillips. Eastwood’s career gross stands at $3.332 billion. Thanks to Joker: Folie à Deux, Phillips is now the 28th-highest grossing filmmaker in history. Since the film’s debut, he has also overtaken the likes of Zack Snyder ($3.1 billion) and M. Night Shyamalan ($3.2 billion). Besides the first Joker, which grossed over $1 billion worldwide, Phillips’ three Hangover movies have generated a combined total of over $1.4 billion.
Phillips Was Reportedly Paid $20 Million for ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’
Joker: Folie à Deux premiered at the Venice Film Festival, where the first Joker surprisingly won the Golden Lion honor. The movie earned divisive reviews at the festival, and it currently holds a “rotten” 33% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. But more than the critics, it was the audience’s response that truly hurt the movie. Joker: Folie à Deux earned an unprecedented (for a comic book film) D CinemaScore from opening day crowds, signaling an absolute rejection. The movie witnessed a record second-weekend drop, confirming its resounding failure. You can watch Joker: Folie à Deux in theaters, or you could wait for it to hit digital streaming platforms later this month. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates.