This time around, the joke may actually be on DC Studios with its latest release.

If early signs are to be believed, DC Studios could have another flop on its hand when its upcoming film hits theaters.

For years, the blue brand has been on a roller coaster full of ups and downs at movie theaters. While there have certainly been some bright spots (2022’s The Batman being one of them), as of late, the comics giant has not fared all that well.

DC is currently lining up a new era of big-screen superhero storytelling on the back of Guardians of the Galaxy filmmaker James Gunn, but in the interim, it has failed to get any sort of foothold at the box office with flop after flop (read more about DC’s box office woes here).

DC Could Have Another Flop On The Way

Joker: Folie à Deux
According to early indicators, DC Studios’ next movie, Joker: Folie à Deux, is projected to be another box office flop for the studio.

This comes as early pre-sale ticket numbers for the R-rated sequel have started to make their way out, indicating that things do not look too positive for the film beyond its opening weekend.

Box office insider Empire City Box Office posted about the movie on X (formerly Twitter), saying that the projected $100 million domestic opening for Joker 2 is “in serious jeopardy:”

“Numbers don’t lie, and even this early red flags everywhere and [‘Joker: Folie à Deux’] is in big big trouble if first half day of pre-sales are any indication.  $100m opening in serious jeopardy and might go a lot lower.  Hopefully won’t head for ‘The Marvels’ / ‘The Flash’ territory.”

The movie has even drawn comparisons early to movies like The Flash and The Marvels, which both were deemed outright flops by their studios, making a combined $477 million at the global box office last year (per Box Office Mojo).

Initial projections for the Joker sequel reached as high as $145 million in its opening weekend (per Box Office Pro), which would have been good enough for the third biggest opening weekend of 2024.

However, box office reporter Luiz Fernando recently posted on X that Joker 2 is projected for a $70-80 million opening, well below that $100 million threshold.

Empire City followed up this initial post with several more in the days since, positing in one tweet that things have “not improved” and in another that a projected opening weekend somewhere around $40 or $50 million could be on the horizon:

“Man this has pissed tons of people off. Unfortunately numbers are what they are no matter how much you want films to succeed. In reality, I have been nice to [‘Joker: Folie à Deux’] as many other trackers have it under $5m Thurs previews and a $40m-$50m opening if that doesn’t change soon.”

What Is Wrong With Joker 2?

For fans of Todd Phillips’s Joker film, this news of a potentially lackluster box office debut will almost surely be worrying.

Reviews for the film have been less than stellar, to say the least. The movie sits at a mediocre 62% on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics calling the project “overindulgent,” “exhaust[ing],” and “underwhelming.”

The original Joker has been equally divisive among critics, earning a slightly more impressive 69% on the review aggregation platform.

However, that number includes reviews that have come since the movie’s debut. It seems general sentiment toward the first Joker, which won Phoenix an Oscar for his work in the titular role, has soured in recent years.

The 2019 film was one of the biggest success stories of that year. Against all odds, the R-rated gritty comic-book adaptation raked in over $1 billion worldwide.

This was enough to make the movie the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever, a record that would stand for several years only to be leap-frogged by Christopher Nolan’s Oppenheimer in 2023 and then Deadpool & Wolverine this year.

So, looking at all this, it may be confusing why Joker: Folie à Deux, may not be lined up for success.

The creative team from the first film is back, the franchise earned awards recognition which comic book movies rarely do, and it even brought on the beloved Lady Gaga as a new addition to its cast. Everything looked as though there was no way Joker 2 could fail. Yet, here we are.

One of the biggest reasons behind Folie à Deux‘s flop potential simply has to do with the changing theatrical landscape the movie is releasing into.

This is not the same movie business that got the original Joker over that $1 billion mark. Theatrical viewing habits have changed, and for a movie to be a resounding success on the big screen anymore it needs to be a massive event, and it needs to be good.

Plus, DC as a brand has taken a lot of hits since Joker came to theaters in 2019. The super-powered brand is in the midst of a massive retooling effort, and, partly because of this, public sentiment toward the company is at an all-time low.

There is still a chance Joker: Folie à Deux defies the odds and becomes a major box office hit; however, it is very clearly going to be an uphill battle.

Joker: Folie à Deux comes to theaters on Friday, October 4.