Was Joker: Folie à Deux secretly a masterpiece? Warner Bros. film heads Pamela Abdy and Michael De Luca give their thoughts on the divisive sequel.
2019’s Joker film was a surprise hit in the best way. The project surpassed the billion dollar bar, becoming a hit with general audiences and critics alike. The film even earned its star Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar for his performance as Arthur Fleck. A sequel seemed guaranteed to print money, so Joker: Folie à Deux was swiftly put into production.
Sadly, the sequel to Joker didn’t exactly hit like the original. A number of strange decisions, such as opting to make the film largely a musical, lead to Joker: Folie à Deux being a bomb at the box office and with audience perceptions. To many, it was unequivocally the worst movie of 2024, and was subsequently lambasted on social media.
Was Joker: Folie à Deux Really That Bad?
Since its release, a number of high profile figures have come out to defend Joker: Folie à Deux. Some notable auteurs such as Quentin Tarantino and Hideo Kojima have come out to praise the Joker sequel. And it seems as though Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy are the next up to bat, with the heads of Warner Bros. film praising the project as underrated.
“I really liked the movie. I still do,” Abdy told The Wrap, with De Luca adding, “It was really revisionist. It may be that it was too revisionist for a global mainstream audience, but I thought that Todd and his screenwriting partner Scott [Silver] did the thing that most people making sequels don’t do, which is they decided to not repeat themselves. I do give them immense props for not repeating themselves, but it just turned out to not connect with the audience.”
It’s not likely that general audiences will revisit Joker: Folie à Deux, given the sequel is a lot heavier than most classic superhero flicks. But given the first Joker was largely carried by critics shepherding it to general audiences, it’s possible that those who study film look back on the project with rose-tinted lenses.
Joker: Folie à Deux is now available for digital download and streaming. Stay tuned for the latest news regarding the sequel!
