Folie à Deux' at the International Box Office

“Joker: Folie á Deux” is not recovering at the international box office, where the offbeat comic musical grossed $22.6 million from 77 countries in its second weekend of release.

Although the film performed far better in foreign markets than domestically – with $113 million overseas and $51 million in North America, bringing its worldwide total to $165.3 million – ticket sales remain far off falls short of expectations. The Warner Bros. sequel cost $200 million to produce (excluding the approximately $100 million in marketing and other distribution costs). At this rate, it will be difficult to get anywhere close to the $450 million needed to break even, according to expert sources. The original 2019 “Joker” was hugely successful, grossing $335 million domestically and $743 million overseas, for a worldwide total of $1.078 billion. And it had a price tag of about $60 million, so it was also extremely profitable.

“Joker 2” opened with $2.4 million in Japan over the weekend and lands in its next major country, China, on October 16. So far, the UK is the top foreign market by revenue at $11.8 million, followed by Germany at $7.9 million, Italy at $7.6 million, Mexico at $7.4 million and France with $7.1 million. Moviegoers who went to theaters to see “Folie a Deux” opted for premium screens, with Imax contributing $13.5 million in global ticket sales.

Earnings for the “Joker” sequel lagged behind those of Universal and DreamWorks Animation's “The Wild Robot,” which rose to No. 1 in Hollywood offerings over the weekend with $24.1 million from 55 countries. The well-reviewed family film has grossed $64.7 million overseas and $148 million worldwide. The studio is staggering the international release and plans to release The Wild Robot in additional markets in the coming weeks.