Who’s to blame for Joker 2?

After years of development, a new DC Universe film Joker: Folie à Deux finally hit theaters, and the film’s initial box office performance was disastrous. leading to questions about who is to blame for DC’s latest failure. Audience interest has not been kind to DC in the past few years, and Joker 2The box office numbers make it clear that the film will likely be another flop for Warner Bros. Discovery. The cinematic performance is multi-faceted, but there are a few mistakes in the making of this film that have started to surface.

Next FlashIn a historic blast, despite the return of Michael Keaton as Batman, it appears the studio is struggling to connect with audiences. After a mediocre performance Black Adam and the incredible failures of such different films as blue beetle, Shazam: Fury of the Godsand now Joker 2nothing the studio does seems to resonate. It is hoped that the DC Universe reboot will take place in 2025. Superman may change that though, understanding what went wrong with films like Joker: Foley Deuce – and who is responsible is the key to moving forward.

Walter Hamada and Toby Emmerich played key roles in the creation of Joker 2

Former Warner Bros. film executives and DC made the film from scratch

Part of the blame Joker 2The company’s failure could be attributed to the studio’s old regime, meaning that ultimately no one could be held accountable. Hollywood Reporter‘With The article discussing the film’s fallout also reveals the involvement of former Warner Bros. chairman. Toby Emmerich in the new film, tying the two together. Although Emmerich left Warner Bros. in 2022 and was replaced by Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdi, deals for Joker 2 basically had already been created under his leadership. When the wheels rolled, nothing could stop them.

Thanks to these deals, the budget JokerThe sequel, after the first film cost $55 million, was significantly inflated. The main reasons for the success of the first film: director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix were able to receive an incredible $20 million each. for a new sequel. They also managed to inflate the cost of the film as a whole to around $190 million, a figure they couldn’t have even dreamed of for the first film.

Walter Hamada, former president of DC Films, was less involved this time around. Over the last few years, DC has been in a strange place of change and restructuring, which has led to a lack of clarity around accountability within the organization. This led to Black Adam riots among other things. In the months before James Gunn and Peter Safran were brought on board to form the new DC Studios, there was less oversight from that division.. This flaw may be partly responsible for the film’s failure.

David Zaslav’s orders seem to have influenced the creation of Joker 2

CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery has advanced the film into production

David Zaslav earned a bad reputation among some DC viewers after the series’ cancellation. Batgirland CEO of Warner Bros. Discovery can be said to bear some of the blame for the failure Joker: Foley Deuce. Following Project Popcorn, the studio’s 2021 initiative that saw the year’s major films released simultaneously in theaters and on HBO Max, the studio found itself in dire financial straits.. Most of their 2021 films failed to make much money in theaters, and streaming revenues weren’t nearly as significant.

David Zazlav was named CEO after the Discovery merger and had a lot of things to fix and a lot of debt to deal with. Many of the decisions made by this new regime were unpopular, including the rebranding of HBO Max to simply Max and the cancellation of various film projects.. However, Zazlav’s new reign has also led to a major shift away from streaming and toward theatrical releases, which appears to be an industry-wide trend.

This provided the opportunity to use more of the studio’s intellectual property for major theatrical releases. Following this it turned out that quality has become less of a priority than the mass release of films with some kind of recognition. After the incredible success of the first film, it seemed like it would be a home run. However, this ultimately did not happen, raising questions about points in the process at which those not directly involved in the project could change its course.

Todd Phillips has key responsibility for Joker 2 as its director

The Hangover director has a bad track record with sequels

Todd Phillips has worked in Hollywood for several decades, and during this time the director has made a number of excellent films. From Old school To Due date To Hangoverthe director has clearly proven himself to be adept at comedy, as well as telling compelling, original stories that resonate with mass audiences.. While the first Joker was a step away from his comedy roots and felt more like a poorly received War dogs according to his resume, the film worked.

After the success of the first film, it became clear that the studio wanted to make another one. However, it seemed like this was no easy task considering that the original film was seemingly made without any intention of creating a follow-up. Getting paid $20 million to explore your own world would be an exciting proposition for any director, but it also carries some key risks that seem to have fallen short in this case in terms of critical reception.

Unfortunately, Phillips, who co-wrote the new film with Scott Silver, didn’t have much success with the sequels, which should have been a hint to everyone involved that this sequel might not be very successful. directors Hangover Both sequels were poorly received by critics, and each saw declining box office receipts. Phillips seems to work best when he’s exploring original stories rather than returning to IP, even if it’s IP created by the director himself.

Joaquin Phoenix is ​​reportedly behind the start of Joker 2

The actor recently faced some controversy

Hollywood Reporter wrote an extensive article about Joker 2failure ending with the statement that “When asked who the target audience was, one outside source summed it up as: ‘For Joaquin.’“ It’s unclear what external source they’re citing, although it does seem to suggest that Joaquin Phoenix is ​​largely to blame for the film’s creation. Since he is the heart and soul of the first film and its main character, there are obviously some reasons why some would argue that this is the case.

Of course, no sequel would have been made if Phoenix hadn’t agreed to star again. The iconoclast actor was instrumental in getting the film into production and in directing it. Talking to ABC News in 2019, the actor said “I can’t stop thinking about it… if there’s anything else we can do with the Joker, that could be interesting.” It started as an idea for a Broadway show but ended up being turned into a movie.

With such an interesting figure as the star, the film had to be something original and interesting to lure him back. Some positive reviews of the film noted Joker 2originality and these unusual traits may have played a major role in the actor returning to the role of Arthur Fleck.. Unfortunately, they did not lead to the creation of a film that audiences would like. Joker 2 it is often described as more of a feature film than a comic book blockbuster.

The marketing of Joker 2 can be held responsible for its reception

Marketing has made it difficult to understand exactly what Joker 2 should be

Exactly what Joker 2 was intended, it was difficult to be sure until the film was released. Although the director described the film as a musical, Lady Gaga somewhat contradicted this opinion. While the first trailer contained some exciting imagery, it also did a poor job of informing audiences of what to actually expect from the somewhat unnecessary sequel. Some interesting visuals and musical elements caused more confusion than audience engagement.

The film was a mixture of drama with elements of jukebox musicals and did not seem to appeal to most audiences. Given this, it appears that problems with Joker 2The marketing may have been twofold: it turned off those who felt it was not close enough to the original film, but it also left others confused about the film and therefore less likely to enjoy it if they actually saw it continuation.

Misreading by Audiences May Explain Joker 2’s Negative Reception

Joker 2 seems to despise fans of the original film

One of the most discussed details Joker: Folie à Deux is that the sequel doesn’t seem to resonate with some fans of the original film. There has been a huge misreading of the first film, which involved audiences getting involved and celebrating Arthur Fleck’s rise to madness in its climax.. This was largely due to a misunderstanding of the film, which was intended to explore how mental health is often poorly and unfairly treated in society, as the film does not promote violence or treat Arthur as a hero.

Some instead celebrated Arthur’s brutal madness, and it makes sense that audiences would expect to see more of that in the film’s sequel. Instead of, Joker 2In the finale, the character shrank and found himself at the lowest level. After all, the character is no longer the Joker, and it is suggested that another may later take over the role of the “real” Joker. This highly divisive choice, among others, made in the film seemed to understand how audiences felt about the first film and deliberately created the opposite of what they expected from the sequel.

Most Joker 2The film’s failure may have something to do with how divergent the film’s intentions and many viewers’ hopes for the story were. Subverting audience expectations can be a very difficult task, and carries a huge chance of backfiring.. However, it seems that the failure of the new film is multifaceted and symbolic of the state of DC over the past few years. Despite the failure Joker: Folie à Deux, there is still some hope that DC Studios can bounce back with the launch of the DC Universe soon.

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