A new report details James Gunn’s involvement in Joker: Folie a Deux And who’s to blame for the film’s disastrous opening weekend. The first Joker was a surprise success, grossing over $1 billion on a relatively small budget. unfortunately, Joker 2 performed well below expectations in its opening weekend and could lose money due to its $200 million budget. It only earned $37.8 million Thursday and $114.8 million worldwide, but word-of-mouth is so low it likely won’t get any better.
While Gunn and Peter Safran run DC Studios, the pair are not to blame Joker 2s failure. According to The Hollywood ReporterGunn and director Todd Phillips emphasized “They did not work together on the project.” Gunn clarified on social media that the DC logo did not appear in the opening credits of the film “Because it’s not a DC Studios film.” It seems as if the DC Studios co-CEO is separating himself from the project, and it is likely the right decision before the DCU begins.
Gunn clarifies that Joker 2 is not his fault
The DCU is officially set to begin in 2025 with James Gunn SupermanAnd Joker 2 is the last remnant of the old DC regime. It is wise for Gunn and Safran to distance themselves from this flop as it was green-lit before they were hired. Joker 2 was announced in July 2022, while Gunn and Safran did not become the co-chairmen and CEOs of DC Studios until October of this year. The Hollywood Reporter said that when Joker 2 was green-lighted,”DC was in a state of near chaos” As the DCEU is slowly crumbling.
Related
The first Joker was meant to be a one-off, but a sequel was green-lit after it made $1 billion. The report suggests that the studio gave Phillips complete creative control with little feedback from Gunn or anyone else at Warner Bros. Joker 2 Exists as an Elseworlds project, meaning it’s not part of the DCU or Matt Reeves’ Batman universe. Gunn’s comments indicate that this will not affect his vision for the DCU, nor does he have any creative input into the project.
Gunn wants the DCU to be a clean slate
Gunn and Safran had several bombs under their regime, but they were all projects that were completed or in development before they came aboard. Films like The bottle, Shazam: Wrath of the GodsAnd Blue bug They are all part of the DCEU and were released after Gunn announced the DCEU was ending. Their failures, along with Joker 2Are not Gunn’s fault and the blame should be pointed at the studio executives who mishandled all these projects.
Gunn’s comments are an attempt to distance his DCU Joker 2, How he wants the DCU to start without any controversy. Superman is incredibly important to DC’s future success and audiences can’t help but have the stench of that film bleeding into the film. Joker 2 Wouldn’t have impacted the DCU regardless of its quality, but Gunn clearly wants nothing to do with it.
- Director
-
Todd Phillips
- Release date
-
October 4, 2024
- Figure
-
Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beetz, Steve Coogan, Harry Lawtey, Leigh Gill, Jacob Lofland, Sharon Washington, Troy Fromin, Bill Smitrovich, John Lacy, Ken Leung.
- runtime
-
138 minutes
Upcoming DC movie releases
Source: The Hollywood Reporter