Box Office Battle: ‘Joker 2’ disappoints with $40M opening

“Box Office Battle” is The Fly’s weekly roundup of what movies topped the weekend’s box office.

Todd Phillips sequel “Joker: Folie a Deux” disappoints at the box office with a $40M debut, well behind expectations. The Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga movie earned a D CinemaScore from audiences and sports a 33% Rotten Tomatoes score, with exit polls also showing the viewers’ unhappiness. Overseas, “Joker 2” earned an estimated $81.1M for a global cume of $121.1M.

“Joker: Folie a Deux” is part of the DC Elseworlds brand — for stories set outside of the shared DC Universe created by DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran, with Warner Bros. (WBD) Motion Picture’s Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy in charge of the film.

BOX OFFICE RUNNER-UPS: DreamWorks Animation and Comcast (CMCSA) subsidiary Universal’s “The Wild Robot” placed number 2 with another $18.7M for a domestic cume of $63.9M. Behind it was Warner Bros.’ “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” with another $10.3M for a domestic tally of $63.9M and $402.6M worldwide. Paramount (PARA) and Hasbro Entertainment’s “Transformers One” placed number 4 with an estimated $5.4M in its third weekend. Rounding out the top five, Comcast subsidiary Universal’s “Speak No Evil” grossed $2.8M for a North American total of $32.6M.

WEEKEND BOX OFFICE:

1. “Joker: Folie a Deux” – $40M
2. “The Wild Robot” – $18.7M
3. “Beetlejuice Beetlejuice” – $10.3M
4. “Transformers One” – $5.4M
5. “Speak No Evil” – $2.8M

Other publicly traded companies in filmmaking include Lionsgate’s (LGF.B), Sony (SONY), Apple (AAPL), and Amazon (AMZN).