Where Did Warner Bros. Go Wrong with JOKER: FOLIE Á DEUX?

Director Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie À Deux is having a rough run as the movie had a disappointing box office opening and the majority of critics and fans have made it clear they do not like this movie.

After the first Joker made over a billion of dollars, we all knew that the studio was going to push for a sequel even though Phillips initially had no plan for a sequel. Joker was supposed to be a one-and-done standalone film, and it seems like it should’ve stayed that way.

When it was first announced that Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix were returning for a sequel, my first thought was that there is no way it was going to be as good or successful as the first film. That first movie was an unexpected lightning strike, and there was no way it was going to strike again.

So, what went wrong with the Joker: Folie À Deux? Well, the first mistake was greenlighting the sequel. But, aside from that, there are reports coming out with some explanations of what happened.

Jeff Goldstein, Warner Bros.' President of Domestic Distribution, recently told The Wall Street Journal, "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.

So, the studio is pointing the finger at male fans who don’t like serious dramas and didn’t connect with Gaga’s version of Harley Quinn.

Hollywood insider Matthew Belloni has also released a report saying that everything that went wrong with the movie is "all of the above."

With the first movie being such a huge hit, the studio gave Phillips full creative freedom to do what he wanted and that caused the budget to balloon to $200, and that doesn’t even include marketing costs.

Belloni says more than $50 million of that money went to the salaries of Phoenix, Gaga, and Phillips alone. Another $30 million in costs came from shooting the film in Los Angeles as opposed to London where the first movie was shot, where they got some big production tax-credits.

With most of the film being set in a mental asylum, a courtroom, and a handful of on-location scenes, it’s hard to see where the budget went! Must’ve lined the pockets of the producers.

The report goes on to say that one of the big mistakes made by the studio was the decision to premiere the sequel at the Venice Film Festival, and with and audience like that, the movie never stood a realistic chance of making a good impression.

According to Belloni, this decision was made in an attempt to "appease" the director of the film, who had full creative freedom and final cut approval. This led to a very unconventional sequel that no one was expecting.

The studio didn’t have any control over the fact that the movie is a musical, the script hardly gave Lady Gaga screen time, and Phillips even went so far as to end any prospects of future movies in the franchise.

Oh yeah, I should probably also mention that WB didn’t test the film with audiences before it was released. The studio had no was to gauge audience reactions. So, that didn’t help with the marketing of the film and being able to come up up with an effective marketing campaign.

Despite all that, The Wrap reveals: "Insiders at the studio say that while they’re disappointed with how the weekend has unfolded, they stand by the decision to give Phillips free rein to make the sequel that he wanted."

Are they really happy, though? Because this movie is going to lose money. What do you think about this? Why do you think the film bombed?