"Joker: Folie a Deux" earns $40 million in domestic debut, below expectations.

• During its opening weekend, "Joker: Folie a Deux" grossed only $40 million in domestic ticket sales.
• In 2019, "Joker" generated $96.2 million during its domestic debut.
• "Folie a Deux" had a larger budget of $200 million compared to the first film's $65 million budget, which resulted in a global box office revenue of $1 billion.

Audiences got the last laugh at the box office this weekend.

"Joker: Folie a Deux" grossed only $40 million in domestic ticket sales during its opening weekend, significantly lower than the $96.2 million its predecessor made during its debut in 2019.

The film's expected earnings of $70 million decreased to approximately $50 million after negative reviews were released.

Comscore's senior media analyst, Paul Dergarabedian, commended the creative risk taken in 'Joker: Folie a Deux,' but the film faced tough critical reviews and mixed reactions from moviegoers, resulting in a challenging marketplace environment that made its $40 million domestic debut a disappointment when compared to its massive budget and high expectations.

The first "Joker" directed by Todd Phillips grossed $1.07 billion worldwide on a $65 million budget five years ago. In contrast, the sequel had a production budget of $200 million, not including marketing expenses.

The performances of Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in "Folie a Deux" were met with applause from audiences and critics, but the story was felt to have too many ideas and not enough plot.

In his review of the film for The Ringer, Adam Nayman wrote that the decision to turn the sequel into a musical-slash-courtroom-drama is as perplexing as it sounds, and the results are so bad, they're actually fascinating.

Currently, "Folie a Deux" has a 33% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 258 critical reviews and a 31% audience score from over 2,500 moviegoer reviews.

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