The manic REAL meaning of the Joker's 'Folie a Deux' title revealed

by · Mail Online

Joker: Folie À Deux — starring Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix — may have bombed at the box office, but the name behind the new flick is a perfect fit that nails its darkly playful tone. 

Folie À Deux directly translates to madness for two. 

The term means 'the presence of the same or similar delusional ideas in two persons closely associated with one another', According to Merriam-Webster. 

And while the name is a stroke of clever ingenuity, the film itself might leave audiences feeling more bewildered than entertained. 

The new flick has garnered the lowest CinemaScore in comic book movie history as it bombed at the box office on opening night. 

Joker: Folie À Deux — starring Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix — may have bombed at the box office, but the name behind the new flick is a perfect fit that nails its darkly playful tone
Folie À Deux directly translates to madness for two. The term means 'the presence of the same or similar delusional ideas in two persons closely associated with one another'

The psychological musical thriller — which has been criticized as 'bleak' and 'disappointing' — officially released in theaters on Friday, October 4, but it only raked in $20 million at the domestic box office, per The Hollywood Reporter. 

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Joker: Folie À Deux is branded 'bleak' and the 'most disappointing follow-up' by critics

Joaquin reprised his role as the Joker in the sequel, which had earned him an Oscar for his portrayal in the 2019 film, while Gaga took on the role of Harleen Lee Quinzel (Harley Quinn). 

However, Joker: Folie À Deux has been given a D rating on CinemaScore — the lowest score for a comic book movie at the time of writing. 

Madame Web — which notably also flopped in theaters earlier this year and also received terrible reviews — holds a higher score with a C+. 

On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie currently holds an audience score of 31 percent and a critic score of 33 percent. 

The sequel is projected to rake in less that $50 million at the domestic box office during the entirety of opening weekend, per The Hollywood Reporter. 

The movie had been projected to bring in around $70 million - but the number has since drastically dropped. 

Joker (2019) notably opened with $96.2 million when the film first released in theaters - and eventually landed a little over $1 billion in the global box office. 

It has garnered the lowest CinemaScore in comic book movie history as the film bombs at the box office on opening night
It received a D rating on CinemaScore - the lowest score for a comic book movie
On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie currently holds an audience score of 31% and a critic score of 32%

The first movie - which was also directed by Todd Phillips - had a budget of between $55 and $70 million. However, the budget increased for Folie À Deux to around $200 million. 

The 2019 movie garnered praise and positive reviews from both critics and audiences - and won the Golden Lion during the 76th Venice International Film Festival. 

Joaquin received an Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of the Joker (Arthur Fleck) - and the film garnered an additional Academy Award for Best Original Score. 

The sequel also screened during the Venice International Film Festival last month in September, where it earned a 12-minute standing ovation, per Deadline.   

However, audiences have since taken to X after the movie released in theaters on Friday - and shared their opinions on the sequel, which features musical sequences. 

One fan penned, 'Joaquin Phoenix don't deserve this. what happened to the script?' while another added, 'is it that bad,' followed by a crying face emoji. 

'Ironically I feel that a musical, if done well, could have been a good choice. It'd show how much of an unreliable narrator Fleck is,' one typed. 

'But with some original songs, that keep everything vague, not just covers. Also when I heard of the ending I snorted fr.' 

A social media user wrote, 'Stop making sequels as musicals if the original wasn't a musical.' 

'Maybe he [Phillips] only had an hour long movie, and decided to randomly add musical scenes to fill the runtime,' one penned. 

'Joker downfall really needs to be studied,' another shared, along with a monkey staring out a window. 

One fan said, 'the movie sucks. i had to walk out of the cinema,' while another penned, 'After years of disagreement....*Joker 2 releases* Critics [shaking hands] Audience.' 

However, audiences have since taken to X after the movie released in theaters on Friday - and shared their opinions over the sequel, which was also a musical
'Ironically I feel that a musical, if done well, could have been a good choice. It'd show how much of an unreliable narrator Fleck is,' one typed
'Joker downfall really needs to be studied,' another shared, along with a monkey staring out a window

'That's way below what we expected,' one wrote in regards to the current Rotten Tomatoes scores. 'People are saying this is the worst sequel ever.' 

A fan explained, 'yea this film was bad. it was pretentious and dull. has the aesthetic of an arthouse film without the substance.' 

'It also insults the audience's intelligence. the songs were also underwhelming too. they shouldn't have let this escape to theaters.' 

One shared, 'The audience that loved the first movie is not the same audience running to see musicals. This was a gigantic mistake from step 1.' 

During an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Phillips discussed whether he would be interested in making a third Joker film or a movie centered around Gaga's character. 

'It's not really where this movie is headed for me. I feel like my time in the DC Universe was these two films.'