Joker 2 Bombs Spectacularly with $144 Million Loss—The Worst Box Office Flop of 2024!

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Summary

  • Joker: Folie À Deux was the Biggest Financial Failure of 2024 with a $144 million loss.
  • Inside Out 2 was Disney’s Most Profitable Movie of 2024, earning $650 million in net profits.
  • Joker’s financial failure was due to missing break-even, reaching $207M against $371M in expenses.

It’s clear now that investing in Folie À Deux was a disastrous decision. However, the extent of the failure is staggering. New data shows it to be the biggest box office flop of 2024, racking up losses so massive that Warner Bros. Pictures could easily finance another superhero movie with them.

The anticipated sequel to “Joker,” titled “Folie À Deux,” was unveiled on October 4, 2024, with expectations that it would at least approach two-thirds of the $1.07 billion grossed by the first film, given Joaquin Phoenix’s portrayal of the Joker had become a cultural sensation in 2019. Regrettably, the opposite occurred for the “Joker” sequel. The addition of Lady Gaga failed to prevent Todd Phillips’ movie from experiencing an astonishing -81% drop in its second weekend—a significant decline uncommon for a comic book film. To make matters worse, the sequel received three undesirable awards: the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Remake, Worst Rip-off or Sequel, and Worst Screen Combo. A dismal D on Cinemascore and a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes confirmed that this latest “Joker” film was indeed one of Gotham’s most disappointing productions.

Joker: Folie À Deux was the Biggest Financial Failure Among 2024 Titles with $144 million

Meanwhile, Disney and Pixar Smiled to the Bank with Inside Out 2 as the Most Profitable Movie of 2024.

The sequel to “Joker,” titled “Joker: Folie À Deux, initially aimed to break even with approximately $400 million but fell short, earning only $207 million (with $58 million in North America and $149 million overseas). This misstep was expected to result in a loss of around $150-$200 million. However, according to Deadline’s “Most Valuable Blockbuster” report, the actual financial details have been disclosed. The film generated a total revenue of $227 million, with $87 million from cinemas, $55 million from home entertainment, and $85 million via TV and streaming. On the other hand, its expenses amounted to $371 million, including production costs of $200 million, marketing expenditures of $106 million, residuals and distribution expenses of $25 million, and interest payments of $40 million. This means a net loss of $144 million, making it the biggest financial disappointment among 2024 releases compared to films like “Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga” ($119.6 million), “Bordelands” ($80 million), “Megalopolis” ($75.5 million), and another comic book movie, “Kraven the Hunter” ($71 million).

Interestingly enough, the film Joker held the title as one of the most lucrative blockbusters in 2019 and the highest-grossing R-rated production – until the releases of Deadpool and Wolverine, to be precise. Initially conceived as a standalone film, the impressive earnings led executives at Warner Bros to reconsider and demand a sequel, an order that unfortunately resulted in failure. The primary culprits for this misstep were arguably the controversial choice of incorporating a musical into the Joker movie, which contradicted everything that made the initial film a powerful social commentary, as well as the refusal to conduct pre-release screenings.

Looking at the positive side of 2024 sequels, we find “Inside Out 2” in the spotlight. Although it lost its title as the highest-grossing animation ever to “Ne Zha 2”, the movie still brought in a massive $1.69 billion at the box office, resulting in a net profit of $650 million for Disney and Pixar (a total revenue of $1.15 billion against total expenses of $500 million). “Moana 2” trails behind with a net profit of $415 million, despite sharing box office success with “Wicked”. The second journey of Moana from Motunui managed to secure $1.05 billion in theaters.

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2025-05-02 19:06