‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ scores record low audience score for comic book movie

nme.com:

Joker: Folie à Deux has had a tough opening weekend at the box office, and has registered the lowest CinemaScore audience score for any comic book film ever.As noted by The Hollywood Reporter, it is the first Hollywood comic book movie adaptation to have earned a ‘D’ score from the market research firm CinemaScore, indicating that many audiences are not enamoured with the sequel.The new movie is a sequel to 2019’s Joker and was released in cinemas on Friday (October 4), after receiving its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival last month.It catches up with Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, aka the Joker, while he is a patient at a mental health facility after the events of the first film, where he falls in love with Lady Gaga’s Harleen ‘Lee’ Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn.It drew an estimated domestic box office opening of $40million (£30.5million) on its opening weekend, which is roughly half of the equivalent take of its predecessor, and well short of its original projections of $70million three weeks ago.

The Hollywood Reporter state that Warner Bros. are “stunned and sorely disappointed” by the results. The film had a budget of $190million (£145million).Even critically maligned comic book films, such as The Marvels or The Flash, tend to score respectable CinemaScore marks, with both examples being given a ‘B’ grade.