Just a week after Francis Ford Coppola’s passion project, Megalopolis, debuted with a rare D+ CinemaScore, another film is opening to an even more tragic audience response. Director Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux, a sequel to his blockbuster 2019 film Joker, is sending shockwaves through the industry with its spiraling box office numbers, fueled by what seems like a complete rejection by mainstream audiences. The film has earned a D CinemaScore from opening day crowds, which not only demolishes the lofty commercial projections for this weekend, but also spells doom for the costly film’s future.

By comparison, the first Jokerfilm earned a solid B+ CinemaScore, and more surprisingly, won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Like its predecessor, Joker: Folie à Deux also debuted at Venice, but had a significantly more muted response. The film’s D CinemaScore puts it below even Megalopolis, which is arguably among the most divisive movies to have been released in recent years. By comparison, director Damien Chazelle’s Babylon, another epic blank check film, bombed on the back of a C+ CinemaScore. Only one other film in the post-pandemic era — The Exorcism, starring Russell Crowe — has earned a CinemaScore as poor as a D.

This puts Joker: Folie à Deuxin the same league as American Psycho (2000), The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004), The Happening (2008), The Last Exorcism (2010), Movie 43 (2013), and The Snowman (2017). It’s also the worst-reviewed studio comic book film of all time, behind the famously unloved Batman & Robin, Morbius and Madame Web, each of which earned a C+. Even the widely maligned 2015 Fantastic Four reboot earned a C- CinemaScore, which is to say that Joker: Folie à Deux is in big trouble.

‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Is Headed Towards a Disappointing Box Office Debut

Thanks to a generally positive response, and palpable tension around its incendiary themes, the first film was a runway success. Joker ended up grossing over $1 billion worldwide, and still ranks among the top-grossing R-rated films of all time. It did this against a reported budget of less than $70 million. By comparison, the sequel comes with a reported price tag of $190 million, which raises the stakes considerably. But because of these poor exit scores, the film’s opening weekend projections are tanking. As per current trends, the film is coming up short of the opening weekend hauls of even The Marvels and The Flash — two of the biggest comic book flops of recent times.

Joker: Folie à Deux’s critical rating has been in free fall as well. The movie currently sits at a “rotten” 33% approval rating on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes. The audience score is identical. Starring Joaquin Phoenix as the iconic Batman villain, alongside Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, the movie unfolds mostly inside Arkham Asylum, as Arthur Fleck prepares to mount his defense after murdering half-a-dozen people in the first film and inspiring a rebel movement. Some would argue that the sequel’s musical sequences and open disdain for hardcore fans have left a sour taste in the audience’s mouth. You can watch Joker: Folie à Deux in theaters, and stay tuned to Collider for more updates.

If you needed further reasons to sign up to see Edgar Wright‘s upcoming Stephen King adaptation, The Running Man, well here it is – the movie just beefed up its call sheet with the high-in-demand actress, Katy O’Brian, per The Hollywood Reporter. O’Brian has been on a tear of late with her name on a handful of major projects already released and upcoming. Her latest casting in The Running Man means she gets to reunite with Glen Powell, with whom she recently co-starred in one of summer’s most enjoyable releases, Twisters.

Planned as a more faithful adaptation of the source material than the 1987 Arnold Schwarzenegger-led version, The Hunger Games-esque story follows a desperate man, Ben Richards (Powell) who signs up for a deadly game in a dystopian America under a totalitarian regime. Ben’s daughter is sick and dying and to save her, he becomes a contestant in a fight-to-the-death game where he competes against the show’s ruthless killers. The longer a participant stays alive, the more money they win, but as Ben progresses in the game, he seeks an even bigger cause – to expose the game’s dark secrets. O’Brian’s role will harness her martial arts background as she will play one of the contestants in the show, which means we’ll get to see her in some thrilling fight scenes.

From Star Wars to the MCU, O’Brian has contributed to some big-name projects, however, she had her major break in this year’s acclaimed romantic thriller, Love Lies Bleeding, starring as a bodybuilder opposite Kristen Stewart. O’Brian has shared how she had to audition for the role six times, but it paid off nicely as her performance propelled her up the list of Hollywood’s highly sought talents. She recently booked a part in Amazon MGM’s romcom, Maintenance Required, and is currently filming an unnamed Christy Martin biopic alongside Sydney Sweeney. O’Brain will next be seen in the 8th Mission Impossible film.

When Is ‘The Running Man’ Releasing In Theaters?

Paramount has set the Wright-helmed feature for release next fall. The Running Man will arrive in theaters on November 21, 2025, in time for the Thanksgiving festivities and will race against Universal’s Wicked: Part Two. The studio’s Transformers One is currently playing in theaters where the numbers have been underwhelming. However, brighter days are just ahead for the studio, which still has a couple of highly anticipated releases. Smile 2 arrives next week on October 18, followed by the hotly anticipated Gladiator II, while Sonic the Hedgehog 3 will cater to Christmastime moviegoers.

You can check out O’Brian and Powell together on Twisters, now streaming on Prime Video, or watch her turn on Kristen Stewart in Love Lies Bleeding on Max.

WATCH ON MAX

It was nearly a year ago when Marvel Studios released The Marvels, which starred Brie Larson, Teyonah Parris, and Iman Vellani. This superheroine feature brings together three young heroes as their powers become intertwined. Out of all the crazy scenes this movie has shown, one of them surprised Larson the most during production. Popverse reported that Larson appeared at Fan Expo Denver, where she talked about this recent Marvel film. According to Larson, the scene that got a reaction out of her was the Aladna musical number as she was shocked that she was going to have her Disney Princess moment in the MCU. For those who don’t recall, The Marvels revealed that Captain Marvel (Larson) was married to Prince Yan (Park Seo-joon), which led to a Disney-inspired musical number. Despite her initial reaction, she ended up enjoying it and liked the final outcome.

“I loved all the Aladna stuff. It took a lot of rehearsing. It was so strange. I remember when I first got the script and I saw it, I said, ‘We’re not actually going to do this right?’ And they’re like, ‘No, no, we’re doing this.’ This is so cool, and it was a really lovely secret to keep. There was so much about it.
Her in a dress, dancing, and singing, all of those incredible characters. All of the creatures from that planet, and Prince Yan of course, super-dreamy.
It was a lovely little detour. I loved that it just sort of flipped things.”

The Marvels was the 33rd film in the MCU, and it continues after the events of Captain Marvel, Ms Marvel, and WandaVision. Unfortunately, the movie’s box office performance was bad, so much so that it became the lowest-grossing film of the MCU.The Marvels generated over $206 million at the worldwide box office, and $46 million of it was during its domestic opening. However, fans and critics enjoyed the superhero feature as it received an average critics score of 62 percent and a high audience score of 82 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.

Brie Larson’s Music Career, Explained

Larson may be known for her acting career, but she also has a small music career as well. The actress released one album in 2005, titled “Finally Out of P.E.”, where two of the songs were released as singles. In addition, one of the songs on that album, “Hope Has Wings,” was featured in the 2005 Barbie animated film, Barbie and the Magic of Pegasus.

Despite only releasing one album, Larson has contributed her vocals to other music projects. One of her most recent ones was for 2021’s Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, where she was the featured artist for Metric’s “Black Sheep.” She also sang the cover of Harry McClintock‘s “The Big Rock Candy Mountains” in the 2015 feature, Room. Unfortunately, the song Larson sang in The Marvels isn’t available on Spotify or other music streaming platforms, nor was it listed in the film’s credits.

The Marvels is now available to stream on Disney+.

Watch on Disney+