Joker 2’s CinemaScore Sets All-Time Low For The Superhero Genre

With the movie proving far more divisive than its original installment, Joker: Folie à Deux has set an unfortunate record on CinemaScore. Anticipation had been high for Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips’ sequel to their $1 billion 2019 hit, particularly as the movie would be introducing Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn into the world separate from both the DC Extended and James Gunn’s upcoming DC Universes. Upon its Venice International Film Festival premiere, though, Joker: Folie à Deux has seen generally negative reviews from critics and audiences alike, with its Rotten Tomatoes audience score landing well below even the worst-reviewed DCEU movie.

Now, as the movie finally hits theaters and more audiences are seeing it, CinemaScore has unveiled Joker: Folie à Deux‘s rating. The platform, solely dedicated to polling moviegoers’ reactions, has tabulated a D score from viewers, officially making it the lowest-rated film in the superhero genre on CinemaScore. Check out the announcement post of the score below:

How Joker: Folie à Deux’s CinemaScore Compares To The Rest Of The Superhero Genre

More Infamous Flops Have Somehow Fared Better

Though the first Joker may have seen a better response from audiences than critics on Rotten Tomatoes, it still wasn’t necessarily a certified hit on CinemaScore, holding a B+ rating on the platform. Going into Folie à Deux, the promise of a more surreal approach to exploring Arthur and Harley’s romance and seeming embrace of the Joker persona with musical numbers was enticing, and seemingly showed a willingness to break away from the storytelling critics found too similar to both Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy in the original.

Even still, the sequel’s record-low CinemaScore shows this approach just didn’t work out in its favor. It also proves surprising, considering Joker: Folie à Deux‘s Rotten Tomatoes scores aren’t even the lowest for the superhero genre, with the likes of Morbius, Batman and Robin and 2015’s Fantastic Four all faring much worse, yet also outperforming Phoenix’s sequel on CinemaScore. Check out how Joker: Folie à Deux‘s CinemaScore compares to some of the other lowest-rated superhero genre titles on the platform in the chart below:

In looking at both critics and audiences’ reactions to Joker: Folie à Deux, it seems clear that the biggest things creating such mixed responses are the minimal screentime with Gaga’s Quinn and Phoenix’s Joker, and its thematic approach to the response to the first movie. Many reviews have specifically noted the movie’s seeming intent was to critique the toxic side of fandom, particularly in how the first movie nearly inspired some very real Jokers. This, in turn, led to some believing that those who did enjoy the original Joker would be upset by Phillips’ approach to the sequel, including Screen Rant‘s Alex Harrison in his Folie à Deux review:

Philips might as well be putting Joker on trial in Folie à Deux, hammering home that a lot of people got his first movie wrong. Arthur isn’t really a Taxi Driver guy anymore; this time, he’d rather sing his troubles away.

Our Take On Joker: Folie à Deux’s Record-Low CinemaScore

The Movie Won’t Come Anywhere Near The Original’s Record Box Office Run

As someone who was already torn about how the original movie depicted the titular character’s origins, I can’t quite decide whether the division towards Joker: Folie à Deux has sparked my interest further in the sequel or put me off from watching it. Regardless of my own interest, though, the record-low CinemaScore for the film does make it clear that it won’t hold a torch to the original movie’s success, particularly its record-setting box office run. For five years, the original Joker was not only the highest-grossing R-rated film of all-time, but also the first to surpass the $1 billion mark.

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This year, though, saw the former record shattered when the highly anticipated Deadpool & Wolverine quickly soared to $1.327 billion, also currently holding the No. 2 spot for the highest-grossing films of the year. As such, between the movie’s divisive reception and box office opening barely bringing in half of what the original did in the same period, I think Joker: Folie à Deux will not only come nowhere near its predecessor’s $1 billion haul, but might not break even against its $200 million production budget.

Source: CinemaScore/Twitter