Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav Admits That JOKER 2 Was a "Disappointment"
Director Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie À Deux fell flat on its face at the box office and most critics and fans were disappointed with how the film turned out. The movie is also bombing on VOD. There’s just no real interest in the movie.
During a recent call between Warner Bros. Discovery executives and investors, the box office performance of the Joker sequel was brought up and how it could weigh on the performance of the company in its next quarter.
It’s at this point, that Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav admitted that the film was a disappointment, saying: “Inconsistency also remains an issue at our motion picture studio, as reinforced recently by the disappointing results of Joker 2.”
Warner Bros. Discovery is going through some financial issues right now, so Joker 2 bombing at the box office didn’t really help matters especially since they spent over $200 million on the production, which is ridiculous for the kind of movie it ended up being.
Executives noted that they will start to focus more intently on core franchises and cut back on the number of new releases.
Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' President of Domestic Distribution, previously talked about the film’s failure, saying: "The movie didn’t land with audiences the way we wanted it to."
He went on to say that the movie was a "deeper dive into mental illness," and then argued that some of its core male audience struggled to connect with Lady Gaga.
It seems like the only person that liked Joker 2 was Quentin Tarantino, who said that it was a "'F— you' to 'comic book geeks' and 'Hollywood.’" He said:
“The Joker directed the movie. The entire concept, even him spending the studio’s money — he’s spending it like the Joker would spend it, all right?
“And then his big surprise gift — haha! — the jack-in-the-box, when he offers you his hand for a handshake and you get a buzzer with 10,000 volts shooting you — is the comic book geeks.
“He’s saying f-ck you to all of them. He’s saying f-ck you to the movie audience. He’s saying f-ck you to Hollywood. He’s saying f-ck you to anybody who owns any stock at DC and Warner Brothers […] And Todd Phillips is the Joker. Un film de Joker, all right, is what it is. He is the Joker.”
I like that take on the movie.