Joker: Folie à Deux soft-shoes its way to $7M in previews as fans and critics share divisive reviews of the musical sequel

Who’s ready to cut a rug with Arthur Fleck and Lee Quinzel? Joker: Folie à Deux, Todd Phillips’s highly anticipated sequel to his 2019 billion-dollar barnburner, Joker, is finally tap-dancing for fans in theaters with a $7M take in Thursday preview screenings. On Thursday, showings began at 3 p.m., with analysts saying the film could earn $50M over the weekend. Phillips’s divisive sequel cost a reported $190M+, so WB hopes the experimental DC film has legs.

While looking at the numbers, we see that Joker: Folie à Deux previews are down 47% from the original, which garnered $13.3M in early screenings and earned $96.2M during its weekend debut.

Todd Phillips recently said he’s no longer making DC movies, which could be in the filmmaker’s best interest. Joker fanboys have been nervous about the sequel’s musical elements for months, and initial reactions to the film from many people who loved the first one are grim. PostTrak published a 1/2 star score with a 40% positive rating, similar to Francis Ford Coppola’s self-funded disasterpiece Megalopolis (45%). Meanwhile, 24% of viewers say they’ll recommend Joker: Folie à Deux to their friends. The movie performs poorly on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 37% Critic Score, nose-diving from an initial 62% Fresh posting.

While poking around on social media, I’ve seen some scathing fan reviews for Joker: Folie à Deux, with many saying the sequel is a disappointing “courtroom drama” that doesn’t offer any of the messaging or cerebral thrills of the original. However, outliers say some people are being too harsh on the film and “don’t get it.” WB should hope audiences decide to show up this weekend to decide for themselves about the film’s quality instead of taking online outrage as gospel.

JoBlo’s Editor-in-Chief, Chris Bumbray, reviewed Joker: Folie à Deux, saying it “feels like an anticlimax,” but suspects something more masterful awaits after multiple viewings. You can read Chris’s full review here.

Will you see Joker: Folie à Deux this weekend? Is the negative word-of-mouth killing tarnishing your excitement? Let us know if you plan to see the movie regardless of the online noise in the comments below.