Warner Bros’ Todd Phillips-directed sequel Joker: Folie à Deux earned $7M in previews that began at 3 p.m. Thursday. The number indicates that the $190M+ movie could get to a $50M opening, particularly when comped against movies that exceeded that threshold in their starts such as Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning – Part One ($7M last year), No Time to Die ($6.3M in 2021) and John Wick: Chapter 3: Parabellum ($5.9M in 2019).
Forget about the fact that Joker 2‘s previews are off by 47% from the first 2019 film’s $13.3M, which mushroomed to a $39.3M Friday and the biggest October domestic opening of all time with $96.2M. We knew that was going to happen.
While many knew this Joaquin Phoenix-Lady Gaga combo would be challenged due to the fact that it’s a musical, the fanboys full-out rejected the sequel last night on PostTrak with a 1/2 star and 40% positive. Holy guacamole, Batman. Did the Megalopolis cynics show up last night? Because that’s the same Thursday night grade (actually 45% positive) that the Francis Ford Coppola-directed $120M dystopian epic received a week ago before inching up to one star on PostTrak. Or, wait, did PostTrak switch up the reports? Lionsgate’s Helen Mirren movie White Bird received five stars last night! That feature take on R.J. Palacio’s novel, which is a sequel and prequel to Wonder, is only expected to make $2M this weekend on 1,018 theaters after a $275K Thursday night. Reviews for the movie stand at 72% on Rotten Tomatoes.
A very low 24% say they’ll definitely recommend Joker 2 to their friends. God knows what this means for the sequel’s stability throughout the weekend. RT audience score for Joker 2 also is in the gutter at 36%, with critical reviews plummeting from 62% fresh to 39% Rotten.
BTW, CinemaScore exits usually are more gentle than PostTrak, but God knows where that will be. Megalopolis received a D+ last weekend. Also, Joker 2‘s previews are $400K higher than the $6.6M The Marvels, which fell apart with a $46.1M opening last November — the lowest ever for a Marvel Studios Disney title.