Joker 2 Gets Slaughtered By Terrifier 3 At The Box Office, Dropping 82% In Second Weekend
by Hannah Shaw-Williams · /FilmThis weekend brought a shocking act of clown-on-clown violence as Damien Leone's horror sequel "Terrifier 3" brutally cut down "Joker: Folie à Deux" at the box office. Todd Phillips' comic book movie, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, got off to a disappointing start last week with a $37.8 million debut. But it's now on track to suffer an absolutely shocking 82% drop in its second weekend, with an estimated Friday-to-Sunday total of just $6.8 million (per The Wrap).
That's not only the worst sophomore drop in the history of DC movies — it's the worst second weekend drop ever for a Hollywood comic book movie, breaking the record previously set by "The Marvels" (80%).
There's a certain poetry (especially if you've seen the movie) to "Joker: Folie à Deux" being slain by a fellow jester. The monster at the heart of "Terrifier 3" is David Howard Thornton's Art the Clown, a silent but charismatic ghoul who deals out horrifying violence with a cheeky grin on his face. The series kicked off with 2016's "Terrifier" but really took flight with "Terrifier 2," which doubled down on the extreme gore of the first film while adding more polish and more plot.
"Terrifier 3" is on track to gross $16 million in its opening weekend, which means it has already surpassed the global box office total for the previous movie ($15 million). This sequel had the biggest budget for a "Terrifier" movie so far: $2 million. Meanwhile, "Joker: Folie à Deux" had a $200 million production budget, including $20 million apiece for Phoenix and Phillips, and $12 million for Gaga.
Joker: Folie à Deux flamed out in spectacular fashion
As Heath Ledger's Joker theatrically demonstrated in "The Dark Knight," Gotham City's Clown Prince of Crime isn't exactly motivated by money. If the Joker has any motive at all, it's to cause mass destruction in the absolute funniest way possible.
In that regard, this weekend's box office results are actually a huge win for "Joker: Folie à Deux." It doesn't get much funnier than Warner Bros. spending $200 million to make a cash-in "Joker" sequel — only for that sequel to not only become a record-breaking box office bomb, but to be defeated by a $2 million indie movie about a killer clown dressed as Santa Claus. The sheer chaos of it brings to mind a moment from "Terrifier 2" in which Art the Clown is discovered sitting next to the mutilated corpse of one of his victims, cackling and shrugging like he's just played a silly prank.
Of course, we can't give Art all the credit for the early box office demise of "Joker: Folie à Deux," which largely died from self-inflicted wounds. The sequel has been panned by critics and audiences alike, earning the worst ever CinemaScore for a comic book movie. And it still might have turned a profit, had it kept to the relatively thrifty $55 million of the first "Joker" movie. Instead, Warner Bros. spent almost that much on salaries for the two stars and the director alone.
Still, there's no denying that "Terrifier 3" showing up and offering audiences an R-rated movie with darkly comedic clown-based violence — essentially, the Joker's trademark — has stolen any wind that "Folie à Deux" might have had in its sails. This was a beautiful box office showdown, and one for the history books.