Joker: Folie à DeuxBeat in Its Second Weekend by Another Clown Movie,Terrifier 3, at Box Office

Mar. 15, 2025

Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/the Joker inJoker: Folie à Deux(2024); David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown inTerrifier 3(2024).Photo:Niko Tavernise ; Jesse Korman/Cineverse/Courtesy Everett Collection

Niko Tavernise ; Jesse Korman/Cineverse/Courtesy Everett Collection

The musical sequel starringJoaquin PhoenixandLady Gagapulled in just over $7 million in North America, according to multiple outlets includingThe GuardianandThe Hollywood Reporter.

Meanwhile, the gory slasherTerrifier 3— which opened Friday, Oct. 11, and starsDavid Howard Thorntononce again as the sinister Art the Clown — earned $18.3 million, perBox Office Mojo.

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Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga inJoker: Folie à Deux(2024).Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc

The firstJokerfilm went on to be a blockbuster, earning over $1 billion at the global box office.Folie à Deux, though, had an opening weekend that came lower than industry predictions: $40 million at the domestic box office,per multiple outlets. (The originalJokerset an October record in 2019 when it opened to $96.2 million domestically.)

Folie à Deuxhas thus far raked in $165.3 million globally, perBox Office Mojo. The budget for the sequelwas reportedly $200 million, though directorTodd Phillipshascalled that estimate “absurd.”

The new filmis a musicaland tracks Arthur Fleck’s (Phoenix) murder trial after the events of the first film. Gaga, 38, joins the cast as Lee, a.k.a. Harley Quinn.

Director Phillips, 53, who also made the firstJoker, has spoken in various interviews about taking risks with the sequel and subverting expectations.

He also recently toldThe Hollywood Reporterhe doesn’t plan on making a thirdJokerfilm: “I feel like my time in the DC Universe was these two films.”

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David Howard Thornton as Art the Clown inTerrifier 3(2024).Jesse Korman/Cineverse/courtesy Everett Collection

Jesse Korman/Cineverse/courtesy Everett Collection

Terrifier 3earned a B grade on CinemaScore, and marks the third movie inDamien Leone’s horror-slasher franchise since the original was released in 2016.

Terrifier 3has been buzzed about as of late for its fresh new kills — to the point where film distributor Signature Entertainmentwrote on Xthat staff at a U.K. movie theater “reported 11 people walking out and 1 person vomiting” during a premiere screening earlier this month.

Separately,LADbiblereported that 11 audience members walked out during the movie and that nine of those people left during the film’s opening scene. The outlet also claimed that one audience member vomited, citing the public-relations team working onTerrifier 3.

Filmmaker Leone, 42, shared that article in a post onhis X accountin which he wrote that he “did personally witness some crazy stuff at this UK screening.”

source: people.com