Joker: Folie À Deux fiasco continues (to rob Warner Bros. blind)

You remember that famous scene in The Dark Knight where the Joker (played by Heath Ledger) sets stacks and stacks of money on fire? Well, Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have continued in that grand Joker tradition with their sequel Joker: Folie À Deux, a movie so defiantly unenjoyable it earned the worst ever second-weekend drop off at the box office for a comic book movie. And they did it all on Warner Bros. dime. 

The exact calculation of what Joker 2‘s failure cost the studio remains to be seen. That is partially because the movie could scrape together a bit more revenue in theaters and when it gets to home entertainment platforms. It is also partially because WB’s projections don’t necessarily add up with the projections of outside observers. Variety projects the movie needs $450 million to break even, but WB says it needs $375 million. Of course, Joker 2 isn’t likely to reach either figure, currently resting around $165 million globally. Variety reports that, “according to the estimates of insiders as well as three rival executives with knowledge of similar productions,” the movie is poised to lose “at least $150 million to $200 million in its theatrical run.”

As we’ve discussed before, Warner Bros. really has no one to blame but itself for giving Phillips and then getting upset when the anti-comic book movie guy made an anti-comic book movie. Nevertheless, “Any estimates suggested by anonymous ‘insiders’ or ‘rival executives’ are grossly wrong and continues a trend where rumor is reported as fact,” a spokesperson complains in a statement to Variety. “The film continues to play in theatrical release, included with this week’s opening in China, and will continue to earn revenue throughout its home viewing and ancillary run.” Uh huh, well, good luck with that, guys.