Folie à Deux? More like Folly a D.
Joker: Folie à Deux is not off to a hot start in theaters in any conceivable way. It’s performing well under expectations at the box office so far. The original Joker burst into theaters with almost $100 million in its opening weekend. A few weeks ago, the experts were predicting Folie à Deux would open around $70 million. After Friday, it looks more like that number will be closer to $50 million.
One reason why? It’s not just critics who are unhappy about the movie. Audiences who are seeing it don’t seem to like it either. Folie à Deux’s CinemaScore, a rating given by paying customers on a film’s opening night in theaters, is not just low, it is historically low. Audiences gave Joker 2 a “D” rating.
The first Joker received a B+ from CinemaScore.
READ MORE: Our Full Joker: Folie à Deux Review Is Here
Obviously a D is bad. But it is especially bad when you learn that no other major comic-book movie in history has gotten a lower CinemaScore in history. Here are the CinemaScores for a few other notable superhero clunkers:
- X-Men Origins: Wolverine: B+
- Suicide Squad: B+
- Catwoman: B
- Elektra:- B
- Green Lantern: B
- Jonah Hex: C+
- Justice League: C+
- Madame Web: C+
- Morbius: C+
- Fantastic Four (2015): B-
Wait, Catwoman got a B? What?!? How bad do you have to be when the same scale voted Catwoman a B?!?
Then again, if you’ve seen Folie à Deux, this outcome might not surprise you. In my own review, I wrote about how the film seemed to be “engineered to deliberately antagonize the audience” that loved the first movie, with a tedious courtroom drama plot, low-key musical numbers, and relatively little Joker mayhem. CinemaScore measures what your most passionate paying customers — the people who can’t wait past opening day to see a movie — think of your film. And if you make a movie that feels designed to piss off those people, a D score is probably not all that shocking.
If you still want to see the film for yourself, Joker: Folie à Deux is now playing in theaters.
Every DC Comics Movie, Ranked From Worst to Best
From Superman and the Mole Men to Joker: Folie à Deux, we ranked every movie based on DC comics.
