»The “Joker” sequel’s opening pales in comparison to its predecessor and is dead on arrival with a bloated budget.
»However, Todd Phillips’ follow-up to his billion-dollar grosser is the last hurdle for new DC leadership to clear.
»Meanwhile, “The Penguin” is a hit on Max, though it, too, predates DC Studios co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran.
When “Joker” set a record in 2019 for R-rated movies at the box office, it made Warner Bros. management look like visionaries to the industry.
But five years later, the failure of sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux” this past weekend doesn’t tell us anything about the new overseers at WB unit DC Studios, nor does the strength of another of its superhero properties, TV series “The Penguin” on Max.
Theatrical Openings in 2024 [chart]
Clearly, the “Joker” sequel’s $38 million opening — nearly $60 million shy of Joaquin Phoenix’s first outing as the iconic “Batman” villain — is a crushing outcome for Warner Bros. Adding insult to injury is how much the new “Joker” mirrored the budgetary issues of Warners’ last string of DC Extended Universe flicks like “Shazam 2,” “The Flash” and “Aquaman 2,” which petered out to diminishing returns in 2023.
Ordinarily, studio execs would have a lot to answer for spending nearly $200 million, a little more than a quarter of that was allocated to the paydays of director Todd Phillips, Phoenix and new partner in crime Lady Gaga, ballooning its budget to more than three times that of the first “Joker.” They allowed Phillips to make the audacious creative choice of making the sequel into what’s been described as a fantasy musical, in stark contrast to the Martin Scorsese-tinged tone of its critically acclaimed predecessor.
But these decisions won’t be pinned on DC Studios co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran, who were appointed to their roles in late 2022 after Warner Bros.’ co-heads Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca took over the leadership reins from Toby Emmerich, who was ousted as WarnerMedia morphed into Warner Bros. Discovery. “Joker 2” was already set in motion and Gunn has asserted he was not involved in the production, even if it still carries the DC logo at the end of the credits. WBD shuttered DC Films in 2022 before Gunn and Safran were tapped to lead the newly christened DC Studios.
Prior to that, Warners was reeling from $2 billion in losses associated with its Project Popcorn initiative that sent its studio’s films to HBO Max. That’s whyy Abdy and De Luca opted to prioritize more big-name filmmakers in the wake of Christopher Nolan’s exodus to Universal, where he made “Oppenheimer.”
Having lost the filmmaker behind billion-dollar blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” it’s understandable why they would give Phillips carte blanche to continue his take on the Joker character. The studio’s 2025 film slate is now flush with projects from Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”), Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”), Paul Thomas Anderson (“Phantom Thread”) and Barry Levinson (“Rain Man”).
In the meantime, there’s a silver lining in Max original series “The Penguin.” A spinoff of 2022’s “The Batman” that continues the story of titular villain Penguin, played by Colin Farrell, it too was in the works before Gunn and Safran assumed their roles at DC.
But unlike “Joker 2’s” dismaying run in theaters, “Penguin” is a hit. The show’s September premiere nabbed 5.3 million U.S. viewers across Max and HBO, which was more than the premieres for the most recent seasons of “Succession” and “The White Lotus.” The series also landed the best 4-day audience on Max globally since “The Last of Us” in Jan. 2023.
With “Penguin,” WB isn’t following the strategy Disney’s MCU took with its blitz of limited series on Disney+ over the last three years, which only added to the profit-sucking costs of the streamer’s many “Star Wars” series.
Instead, “Penguin” is simply bridging the gap between “The Batman” and is one of just two DC series on Max, the other being Gunn’s “Peacemaker” series starring John Cena, which he co-created before leading DC Studios and is shooting a second season for.
As for what Gunn and Safran are working on, the fruits of their labor are still incoming. Gunn’s “Superman” reboot of the pared down DC Universe is due next summer and is the only DC film on Warners’ 2025 slate, as Matt Reeves’ “The Batman Part II” follow-up to 2022’s hit Robert Pattinson starrer was delayed to 2026, which is when the second DCU film, “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” will bow.
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**By Kaare Eriksen**
In this article:
»The “Joker” sequel’s opening pales in comparison to its predecessor and is dead on arrival with a bloated budget.
»However, Todd Phillips’ follow-up to his billion-dollar grosser is the last hurdle for new DC leadership to clear.
»Meanwhile, “The Penguin” is a hit on Max, though it, too, predates DC Studios co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran.
When “Joker” set a record in 2019 for R-rated movies at the box office, it made Warner Bros. management look like visionaries to the industry.
But five years later, the failure of sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux” this past weekend doesn’t tell us anything about the new overseers at WB unit DC Studios, nor does the strength of another of its superhero properties, TV series “The Penguin” on Max.
Theatrical Openings in 2024 [chart]
Clearly, the “Joker” sequel’s $38 million opening — nearly $60 million shy of Joaquin Phoenix’s first outing as the iconic “Batman” villain — is a crushing outcome for Warner Bros. Adding insult to injury is how much the new “Joker” mirrored the budgetary issues of Warners’ last string of DC Extended Universe flicks like “Shazam 2,” “The Flash” and “Aquaman 2,” which petered out to diminishing returns in 2023.
Ordinarily, studio execs would have a lot to answer for spending nearly $200 million, a little more than a quarter of that was allocated to the paydays of director Todd Phillips, Phoenix and new partner in crime Lady Gaga, ballooning its budget to more than three times that of the first “Joker.” They allowed Phillips to make the audacious creative choice of making the sequel into what’s been described as a fantasy musical, in stark contrast to the Martin Scorsese-tinged tone of its critically acclaimed predecessor.
But these decisions won’t be pinned on DC Studios co-chairs James Gunn and Peter Safran, who were appointed to their roles in late 2022 after Warner Bros.’ co-heads Pam Abdy and Mike De Luca took over the leadership reins from Toby Emmerich, who was ousted as WarnerMedia morphed into Warner Bros. Discovery. “Joker 2” was already set in motion and Gunn has asserted he was not involved in the production, even if it still carries the DC logo at the end of the credits. WBD shuttered DC Films in 2022 before Gunn and Safran were tapped to lead the newly christened DC Studios.
Prior to that, Warners was reeling from $2 billion in losses associated with its Project Popcorn initiative that sent its studio’s films to HBO Max. That’s whyy Abdy and De Luca opted to prioritize more big-name filmmakers in the wake of Christopher Nolan’s exodus to Universal, where he made “Oppenheimer.”
Having lost the filmmaker behind billion-dollar blockbuster “The Dark Knight,” it’s understandable why they would give Phillips carte blanche to continue his take on the Joker character. The studio’s 2025 film slate is now flush with projects from Bong Joon Ho (“Parasite”), Ryan Coogler (“Black Panther”), Paul Thomas Anderson (“Phantom Thread”) and Barry Levinson (“Rain Man”).
In the meantime, there’s a silver lining in Max original series “The Penguin.” A spinoff of 2022’s “The Batman” that continues the story of titular villain Penguin, played by Colin Farrell, it too was in the works before Gunn and Safran assumed their roles at DC.
But unlike “Joker 2’s” dismaying run in theaters, “Penguin” is a hit. The show’s September premiere nabbed 5.3 million U.S. viewers across Max and HBO, which was more than the premieres for the most recent seasons of “Succession” and “The White Lotus.” The series also landed the best 4-day audience on Max globally since “The Last of Us” in Jan. 2023.
With “Penguin,” WB isn’t following the strategy Disney’s MCU took with its blitz of limited series on Disney+ over the last three years, which only added to the profit-sucking costs of the streamer’s many “Star Wars” series.
Instead, “Penguin” is simply bridging the gap between “The Batman” and is one of just two DC series on Max, the other being Gunn’s “Peacemaker” series starring John Cena, which he co-created before leading DC Studios and is shooting a second season for.
As for what Gunn and Safran are working on, the fruits of their labor are still incoming. Gunn’s “Superman” reboot of the pared down DC Universe is due next summer and is the only DC film on Warners’ 2025 slate, as Matt Reeves’ “The Batman Part II” follow-up to 2022’s hit Robert Pattinson starrer was delayed to 2026, which is when the second DCU film, “Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow” will bow.