Taxi Driver Paul Schrader only managed to watch 25 minutes of Joker: Folie à Deux before he decided “that was enough” and left.
Although director Todd Philips credited Schrader’s 1976 classic as a strong influence on the Joker sequel, Schrader admitted that he wasn’t won over by the sequel, which has been far from a resounding hit. He went as far to describe it as a “really bad musical.”
“I see who’s coming up. I go to the multiplex,” Schrader told Interview about what he gets up to when not writing and directing. “I saw Joker: Folie à Deux. I saw about 10 or 15 minutes of it. I left, bought something, came back, saw another 10 minutes. That was enough.”
Schrader added that he also disliked the performances of both leads, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.
“I don’t like either of those people,” Schrader said. “I don’t like them as actors. I don’t like them as characters. I don’t like the whole thing. I mean, those are people who, if they came to your house, you’d slip out the back door.”
The film endured a tough opening weekend at the box office earlier this month, drawing approximately $40million (£30.5million) domestically, which was roughly half of the equivalent of its 2019 predecessor. The figure was also well short of Warner Bros.’ original projections of $70million, and the studio was reportedly “stunned and sorely disappointed” by the results.
The film had a budget of $190million (£145million), and as reported by Variety, even after two weekends, its global intake is $165million (£126million), compared to the $248million (£190million) the first film drew after just three days.
Folie À Deux also became the first Hollywood comic book movie adaptation to earn a ‘D’ score from CinemaScore – even maligned films such as The Marvels or The Flash managed to secure a ‘B’ grade. It is also sitting on a lowly 33 per cent critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, with a 32 per cent audience score on the aggregator site.
As a result, a report has claimed that the film will be hitting home entertainment platforms on October 29, less than four weeks after its cinematic release. It is also confirmed for a physical release on December 17.
In a four-star review of Folie à Deux, NME wrote: “As with the original movie, the film looks gorgeous throughout, with cinematographer Lawrence Sher making strong use of colour and conjuring up some beautiful images – highlights include an overhead shot of some umbrellas (referencing Jacques Demy’s 1964 musical The Umbrellas Of Cherbourg) and a stunningly lit frame of Arthur lighting a cigarette in his prison cell that resembles a lovingly illustrated comic book panel.
“In short, Phillips and Silver have delivered the last thing anyone expected: a socially responsible Joker movie that finds an intriguing way to explore the consequences (both on and offscreen) of the first film. Joker fans shouldn’t cry too hard though – Warner Bros. have cleverly found a way to leave the door open a little for the franchise to continue, should the need arise.”
In August, Phillips suggested that Folie à Deux will be the final film in his Joker franchise: “It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world.”
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