Summary
- Despite initial criticism, Joker: Folie à Deux is now garnering awards season buzz.
- The sequel failed at the box office but could get an Oscar nomination.
- The film features strong performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga.
Despite coming off the unprecedented success of 2019’s Joker, this year’s Joker: Folie à Deux was a critical and commercial disappointment. While the sequel has been lambasted among audiences and critics alike, a positive sentiment shared among the two emphasized the acting prowess of the film’s leads, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. Now, as the awards season approaches the film industry, Joker: Folie à Deux is beginning to garner some prestigious recognition that could give the much-derided sequel a victory.
The Todd Phillips-helmed Joker duology began with the eponymous release in 2019 and went on to earn several major awards, including the top prize at the Venice Film Festival and two Academy Awards for Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir. By the end of its theatrical run, the film earned over one billion dollars at the worldwide box office and became the highest-grossing R-rated film ever at the time, ultimately transforming into a cultural phenomenon. Intended to be a standalone film, Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver eventually moved forward with a sequel that dipped into the musical genre that was inspired by an idea that came to Phoenix in a dream. Five years after the first film was released and bearing a hefty $200 million production budget, Joker: Folie à Deux failed to earn a profit from $206 million in box office grosses and was a miss with both audiences and critics. The film’s widespread rejection eroded any chance the film had at leaving a mark as deep as its predecessor, though some recent awards season buzz could elevate the sequel into a kinder light.
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On Tuesday, December 17th, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences unveiled the shortlists in ten categories for next year’s 97th Academy Awards ceremony, which saw Joker: Folie à Deux in the running for the Sound category along with fellow comic book film Deadpool & Wolverine. Of the ten films shortlisted, five will move forward pending the members of the Sound Branch’s votes for Oscars consideration in early January. Final nominations in all categories for the 97th Academy Awards ceremony will be announced on January 17th.
This news comes days after Joker: Folie à Deux landed on Max just two months after its theatrical debut. The sequel debuted with dismal reviews and opened to $37 million on its domestic weekend, lower than what early box office tracking had forecast. Unlike the first film’s ‘B+,’ Joker: Folie à Deux earned a ‘D’ from polled audiences through research firm CinemaScore, marking it the lowest score ever for a comic book film. The sequel was bested by Terrifier 3 on its second weekend and dropped 81% at the box office, the biggest drop ever for a film based on a DC character. Since its release, several prominent creative figures, such as Hideo Kojima and Quentin Tarantino, have expressed their appreciation and satisfaction of the film and its themes.
After suffering from a brutal fate at the box office, Joker: Folie à Deux could catch a break by earning a highly coveted Oscar nomination. Should it get nominated and win, it would not mark the first time a critically panned DC film won at the Academy Awards — 2016’s Suicide Squad scored an Oscar for Best Makeup and Hairstyling.
