Joker: Folie a Duex Won’t Make Back Cost By Almost $200 Million

Warner Bros. is facing a potential financial setback with the release of Joker: Folie à Deux. While the studio has not publicly acknowledged the movie’s financial performance, industry reports suggest that the sequel could cost the studio as much as $200 million due to its underwhelming box office performance.

The movie, which had a reported production budget of $200 million, also incurred an estimated $100 million in marketing and distribution costs. This is not as normal as it seems because many movies tend to spend double the cost of making it to market. There may have been writing on the wall already.

To break even, the movie needs to gross $450 million globally. However, the film has only grossed $51.5 million domestically and $165 million worldwide. This is the most important time for a movie, and numbers this low show that it definitely isn’t going to reach anywhere close to $450 million. Experts predict that the film will likely only reach a lifetime gross of $210 to $215 million worldwide.

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Warner Bros. is likely going to rely on the home entertainment, scheduled for October 29, to help recoup some of their losses. That is actually where a lot of money used to come in for many movies. The theaters take so much of a percentage that the showings used to be more of a commercial for the DVDs. However, times have changed, and buying a physical version is no longer as popular as it once was.

The potential profits from physical distribution will likely not be enough to offset the significant financial gap. The movie received mixed reviews, with some critics praising the performances and technical aspects of the film, while others criticized the film’s story and direction.

Audiences also seemed to be divided on the movie, with some finding it to be a compelling and unique sequel, while others found it to be a disappointing and unnecessary follow-up to the original. This is a great example of a movie flop, and DC really doesn’t need that right now.

Source: Variety