Folie à Deux’ Eyes $140 million worldwide opening at the box office

Todd Phillips’ musically-infused sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux” is not currently expected to replicate the success of 2019’s first Oscar-winning Warner Bros. film, “Joker,” which ultimately became the second-highest R-rated film film of all time was at $1.07 billion. Globally it’s looking better than domestic at $140 million, now it’s expected to be $55-$60 million in the 4,000 theaters with all the tricks of Imax and PLF screens. The original domestic forecast was over $70 million when it reached its three-week run. The first Joker surpassed its domestic forecast of $80 million with its highest opening ever of $96.2 million and surpassed its WW forecast of $155 million with $248.2 million (2019 figures without taking inflation and currency fluctuations into account). Still with a net production cost of over $190 million, the expected business of “Joker: Folie à Deux” at this point is not bad for the exhibition and not necessarily bad for the film itself. Who doesn’t want a film that… grossed $55 million and $140 million at the box office in October? Does anyone not want that? Why so serious, industry? Because they have business expectations for the Dark Knight franchise from the sequel, and many have to remember that it’s a sequel to an X-rated Taxi Driver-esque social commentary with a DC villain who just happens to catch a wave and overachieve cuts off. The question is whether fanboys are okay with a Gaga-Pheonix musical duet that’s almost as dark-toned as the first film. No one expected the first Joker to be wild to begin with; At the time, there were fears that there would be Dark Knight Rises copycat shootings. All of these concerns were put aside when the film began. Similar to the first Joker, Warners celebrated the world premiere of this sequel in Venice, although that didn’t help matters as the Rotten Tomatoes reviews are at 62% (compared to 69% for the first film). This hasn’t helped pre-sales, which are currently pointing to a lower opening than $55 million, although sources believe Joker 2 can hit its current projection. The preview begins on Thursday at 3:00 p.m. “Joker 2” in the U.S. is the top choice for older men, followed by younger men under 25 and then older women over 25. Gaga’s only star, the Oscar-winning film “A Star Is Born,” debuted at the box office in October Opened in 2018 for $42.9 million. She hopes to surpass that number because “Joker 2” will be her best opening film at home. Hoping to bring her little “monsters” to theaters, Gaga released a companion album to the film, “Harlequin,” last Friday. “Joker 2” could also score the best opening for a non-Disney live musical, possibly ahead of “Bohemian Rhapsody’s” $51 million opening in November 2018. Joker: Folie à Deux opened in today its first offshore market, Korea, with a No. 1 start of $1.3 million. Remember that they benefit from a local holiday. Korea was Joker’s first weekend opener, which was surprising at the time since it wasn’t clear how the film’s darker elements would play out there. This time it may just be the musical factor that gets the audience to latch on. And this week another holiday is coming up. Overall, the rest of the offshore rollout begins in earnest on Wednesday in 14 markets, including major markets France and Italy. On Thursday, 45 will be added, with Germany, Australia, Brazil and Mexico among the majors. Spain and Great Britain come into play on Friday. Internationally, expectations for this first wave are $80 to $85 million. The 2019 Joker opened overseas with $139 million in prize money on a like-for-like basis after winning the Golden Lion of Venice. After this weekend, it will be the turn of Japan on October 11th and China on October 16th. As we’ve already established, the first Joker wasn’t released in China. Meanwhile, Dreamworks Animation and Universal’s The Wild Robot looks set for a second weekend close to $20 million (-45%) after overperforming with a $35 million opening. The Chris Sanders-directed film grossed $2.2 million yesterday, bringing its running total to $38 million.