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.

Joker: Folie À Deux was a bad investment, no question. But just how bad? Recent data reveals that it’s the worst box office bomb of 2024, setting Warner Bros. Pictures a sum huge enough to make another superhero movie.

Joker: Folie À Deux was released on October 4, 2024, and was supposed to—or at the very least—match two-thirds of the first movie’s $1.07 billion gross, especially considering how much of a pop-culture phenomenon Joaquin Phoenix’s iteration of the Clown Prince of Crime became in 2019. It goes without saying that the opposite was the case for the Joker sequel. Despite adding Lady Gaga, Harley Quinn, Todd Phillips’ movie dropped -81% in its second weekend—unprecedented for a comic book movie. Worse, it became a recipient of three unwanted awards: the Golden Raspberry Awards for Worst Remake, Worst Rip-off or Sequel, and Worst Screen Combo. A measly D on Cinemascore and a 31% rating on Rotten Tomatoes sealed Joker’s most recent movie as truly the worst to come out of Gotham.

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By Colin Leggett

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.

Joker: Folie À Deux failed to hit its estimated break-even threshold of around $400 million, eventually settling for $207 million ($58 million in North America and $149 million overseas); thus, it was projected to lose around $150-$200 million. Now, thanks to Deadline’s annual “Most Valuable Blockbuster” report, the precise breakdown of the figures is in. The report lists Joker: Folie À Deux’s total revenue as $227 million—consisting of $87 million from cinemas, $55 million from home entertainment and $85 million via TV and streaming—against an expense cume of $371 million—including $200 million production costs, $106 million on marketing, $25 million on residuals and distribution expenses and $40 million on interests. All these amount to a net loss of $144 million, leading Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga’s $119.6 million, Bordelands’ $80 million, Megalopolis’ $75.5 million, and fellow comic book movie Kraven the Hunter’s $71 million, as the biggest financial setbacks of any 2024 title.

Ironically, Joker was one of the most profitable tentpoles of 2019 and the biggest R-rated flick—until Deadpool and Wolverine, that is. Arthur Fleck’s origin movie was originally devised as a one-off. But huge profits made executives at Warner Bros backtrack and push for a sequel, which famously backfired. At the top of the blame list is the questionable decision for a musical in a Joker movie, making a U-turn on everything that made the first movie a social statement, and the refusal to hold test screenings.

On the bright side of 2024 sequels sits Inside Out 2. Though losing its title as the highest-grossing animation of all time to Ne Zha 2, the film’s $1.69 billion gross translated to $650 million in net profits for Disney and Pixar ($1.15 billion in total revenue against $500 million in total expenses) and was the most profitable of last year. Moana 2 closes in $235 million behind. Despite sharing box office spoils with Wicked, Moana from Motunui’s second journey still managed to secure $1.05 billion in theaters and $415 million in net profit for Disney.

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