‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ opens with $40 million to lead box office

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows Joaquin Phoenix, foreground center, and Brendan Gleeson, background center, in a scene from “Joker: Folie à Deux.” (Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

LOS ANGELES – “Joker: Folie á Deux” opened atop the box office this weekend though it fell below expectations, taking in $40 million, according to industry estimates released Sunday.

Director Todd Phillips’ sequel to his 2019 blockbuster, which stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, has received mostly poor reviews and failed to match the $96.2 million opening weekend of the first film.

“The Wild Robot” slipped to second one week after opening in first place, grossing $18.7 million Friday through Sunday at theaters in the United States and Canada, Comscore reported.

“Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” was third with $10.3 million in its fifth week.

“Transformers One” took fourth place with $5.3 million in its third weekend in theaters, followed by “Speak No Evil” with $2.8 million in its fourth weekend.

Rounding out the top 10 domestic releases were “Sam and Colby: The Legends of the Paranormal” ($1.7 million), “White Bird” ($1.53 million), “Deadpool & Wolverine” ($1.52 million), “The Substance” ($1.34 million) and “Megalopolis” ($1 million)

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“Joker: Folie a Deux” is the No. 1 movie at the box office, but the highly anticipated film failed to match the success of its Oscar-winning predecessor.

This image released by Warner Bros. Pictures shows promotional art for “Joker: Folie à Deux.” (Warner Bros. Pictures via AP)

The film’s Rotten Tomatoes score dropped from 63 percent at Venice to 33 percent by its first weekend in theaters.

Perhaps even more surprising were the audience reviews: Ticket buyers polled on opening night gave the film a deadly D CinemaScore. Exit polls from PostTrak weren’t any better. It got a meager half star out of five possible.

“That’s a double whammy that’s very difficult to recover from,” said Paul Dergarabedian, the senior media analyst for Comscore. “The biggest issue of all is the reported budget. A $40 or $50 million opening for a less expensive movie would be a solid debut.”

Internationally, the movie earned $81.1 million from 25,788 screens, bringing its total global earnings estimate to $121.1 million. In the next two weeks, “Joker 2” will also open in Japan and China. (With CNS report)