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. 



Read More

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.' 


Joaquin PhoenixLady Gaga

Des électeurs attendent l'ouverture d'un bureau de vote à Windhoek, le 29 novembre 2024 en Namibie

Namibians returned to vote on Friday in 36 polling stations reopened two days after a chaotic election, set to test the ruling party's 34-year grip on power, was marred by technical problems.


Tensions are mounting in the historically stable and peaceful southern African nation where Wednesday's election was marked by long delays and labelled a "sham" by the opposition.

Some people waited 12 hours in line to vote in presidential and legislative polls, billed as the toughest yet for the South West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO) party, in power since Namibia's 1990 independence from South africa.

Wednesday's queues were caused by many technical problems, including issues with tablets used to register voters and shortages of ballot papers.

In some cases, torches used to show up invisible ink had run out of batteries and mobile voting teams had left areas with voters still in the queues, it said.

Facing criticism from both voters and parties, the electoral commission extended the vote for a second time, giving Namibians until Saturday evening to vote.

In the capital Windhoek, at the only polling station picked to reopen, about 60 people showed up on Friday, including Kluivert Muuondjo who arrived at 4:30 am.

The 21-year-old student said he had waited in line until 11:00 pm on Wednesday but left before being able to vote as he had exams the next day.




Des électeurs attendent l'ouverture d'un bureau de vote à Windhoek, le 29 novembre 2024 en Namibie

"Everyone will have the chance to vote," he said. But because Namibians can vote at any given polling station, he was worried "everyone will flock to one place again."

The disarray led to angry complaints from opposition parties with some calling for a halt in the electoral process.

Opposition parties were scheduled to meet on Friday and issue a joint statement, according to Christine Aochamus who represents the Independent Patriots for Change (IPC) party.

Youth unemployment, enduring inequalities and the emergence of a generation born after independence are challenging support towards SWAPO which has ruled since 1990.

Its candidate, vice-president Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who could become the first woman to lead the country if elected, could face an unprecedented second round in the mineral rich country.

"To open only one place in Khomas (the region of which the capital is part of) is absurd," said voter Ensley Engermund, who also said he couldn't vote on Wednesday because of long queues despite trying four different polling stations.

"Only 1.5 millions voters are registered and we get this chaos?" asked the 49-year-old security agent.

"It was to get people frustrated."

My dog has recently had some and she loved it.


I'm not sure what to think...

M. Night Shyamalan threw an epic Halloween party in Philadelphia on Saturday night.



The Sixth Sense director, 54, dressed as the villainous Joker for his 'Shyamaween' bash.

His makeup was perfectly creepy and his costume was from the 2008 film The Dark Knight, which saw the late Heath Ledger play the iconic villain.  

Shyamalan's wife, Dr. Bhavna Shyamalan, 55, looked beautiful in an amber-colored, Victorian era gown with bats all over it.

Her makeup was a cross between zombie and goth as she proudly posed next to her talented husband who looked adoringly at her.




M. Night Shyamalan threw an epic Halloween party in Philadelphia on Saturday night









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The couple's daughter, Isha Shyamalan, 25, attended the party dressed as a blood-soaked cheerleader. 

The Shyamalans throw the party annually to benefit the M. Night Shyamalan Foundation. 

The foundation 'supports the grassroots efforts of emerging leaders as they work to eliminate the barriers created by poverty and social injustice in their communities,' according to its website.

M. Night shot to fame in 1999 with his film The Sixth Sense, which celebrated turning 25-years-old in August.

Shyamalan recently opened up about that film's impact on his career in an interview with People.

'At this point, there's so many generations of people that have watched [my] different movies,' the director said.

He added that some, people 'only know me from [2015 movie] The Visit from then on, so they don't even know about The Sixth Sense. So when I think about that, it's wild.'

'Each movie, I feel this way — that I don't know if it'll ever get made. I don't know if I'll ever get to make another one… "If this is the last one, I want it to just represent me,"' he continued.




Dubbed 'Shyamaween,' the Sixth Sense director, 54, dressed as the Joker from the recently released film Joker: Folie à Deux starring Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix





His makeup was perfectly creepy and he wore a woman's nurse's uniform to complete his costume





The couple's daughter, Isha Shyamalan, 25, attended the party dressed as a blood-soaked cheerleader





The Shyamalans throw the party annually to benefit the M. Night Shyamalan Foundation 





Heath Ledger's 2008 portrayal of The Joker was M. Night's inspiration for his costume this year







Shyamalan, who was born in Mahé India but grew up in Penn Valley, Pennsylvania, released two films in the 1990s before The Sixth Sense.

That set off a string a big hits for the filmmaker that includes Unbreakable (2000), Signs (2002) and The Village (2004), that ultimately ended with the release of Lady In The Water (2006), which barely covered the $70 million budget.

His biggest box office success was with The Sixth Sense, grossing $672.8 million while working with a $40 million budget 25 years ago.

To date, the film made $6.6 million on its first day, including an estimated $2.2 million from the Thursday night previews.

Joker: Folie À Deux director Todd Phillips 'wanted nothing to do with DC' during making of the $200million flop film, a new report has claimed.


The hotly-anticipated sequel to the 2019 billion dollar Oscar-winning film - stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga and was considered a surefire hit for Warner Bros Pictures - but was slammed by critics and failed to ignite at the box office.

The sequel has been roundly criticized for being a musical and 'ignoring' the DC fanbase - with an agent familiar with Phillips' process telling Variety he 'wanted nothing to do with DC' during the making of the film, with DC bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran notably absent from the film's LA premiere afterparty last month.


A source said: 'If the first movie was about some down-on-his-luck, mentally ill guy in a downtrodden city, it makes maybe $150 [million] worldwide. Not a billion. People showed up because that guy was Joker.'

In an apparent snub by Phillips, the opening sequence of the film does not include a DC Studios logo.




On Rotten Tomatoes, the movie currently holds an audience score of 31% and a critic score of 32%





The hotly-anticipated sequel to the 2019 billion dollar Oscar-winning film - stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga - seen with Phillips last month - and was considered a surefire hit for Warners Bros Pictures - but was slammed by critics and failed to ignite at the box office 

A DC spokesman said Gunn was directing the Max series Peacemaker in Atlanta, which had lost a day of production due to Hurricane Helene, while Safran was sick. 



Read More

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


A Warner spokesman added that a DC logo appears at the end of the Joker sequel. while Phillips declined to comment to the publication. 

Several frictions are said to have developed between Phillips, DC and Warner- with claims that Michael DeLuca, Chairperson of Warner Bros. Entertainment, and CEO Pamela Abdy seemed 'unwilling' to say no to Phillips due to his huge past successes.

It is claimed Phillips would 'only' speak with DeLuca and Abdy rather than Gunn and Safran - who took control of DC two months before production began on Joker 2 in December 2022.

Gunn and Safran did attend the first director's cut screening for the studio but Phillips fueled rift speculation when he told a reporter: 'With all due respect to them, this is kind of a Warner Bros. movie.'

Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav also met with Phillips  shortly after WarnerMedia and Discovery merged in April 2022 and was 'open to filming in Los Angeles if the director would make the sequel at a lower price point.'

The studio wanted to film in London which would have cost around 20 per cent less.

However, Phillips insisted on filming in LA with the budget remaining static. 









The sequel has been roundly criticized for being a musical and 'ignoring' the DC fanbase - with an agent familiar with Phillips' process telling Variety he 'wanted nothing to do with DC' during the making of the film, with DC bosses James Gunn and Peter Safran notably absent from the film's LA premiere afterparty last month

 A Warner spokesman told the publication the studio 'supported the decision to film in Los Angeles'.

A source directly involved with the film said: 'No one could get through to Todd. And the one thing about genre stuff: If you don't listen and pay attention to what the fan expectations are, you're going to fail.

Insiders also claim studio bosses did not want to premiere the film at the Venice Film Festival, but Phillips pushed back - with a Warner spokesman saying the studio 'fully supported the decision to bring the film to Venice.

Joker: Folie À Deux has garnered the lowest CinemaScore in comic book movie history as the film bombed at the box office on opening night. 

It has only made $114million worldwide against its $200million budget. 

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. 

Phoenix 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. 

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% and a critic score of 32%. 

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. 

Weeks ago, 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. 

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.   








A source directly involved with the film said: 'No one could get through to Todd. And the one thing about genre stuff: If you don't listen and pay attention to what the fan expectations are, you're going to fail.







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.' 

Ahead of the movie's release, Lady Gaga also dropped an accompanying album titled Harlequin on September 27. 

Joker: Folie À Deux has been branded the 'most disappointing follow-up to the Oscar-winning movie' by critics, as they cast doubt on Lady Gaga's 'thin' role in the film following its release on Friday. 

















'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'

The 'bleak' sequel, has also received a tepid reception from fans, with some claiming Lady Gaga's career could be at risk.

While the same director Todd Phillips was back in the hot seat, critics have said the sequel is just a 'repeat' of the first hit but with an added musical twist.

Most critics have said Todd failed to use Gaga correctly in the movie and claimed she was only bought in for the musical aspect of it.

While the majority of critics say Joker: Folie À Deux didn't live up to expectations, others have dubbed the movie 'bold' and 'brilliant.' 

Daily Mail's Brian Viner commended the move as 'bold' and 'brilliant' but said it lacked any thrill. 

The Independent's Geoffrey Macnab said: 'Today Joker is best remembered as one of the most subversive and original films of the last decade, while its hugely anticipated sequel is just as bleak and formally daring as its predecessor'.

Meanwhile, the Irish Times' Donald Clarke gave the movie just two stars but credited Phillips' work for making a sequel following the first movie's $1billion success.

Financial Times critic Danny Leigh said although Gaga worked hard to bump the ratings up in the sequel, Phillips appeared to have no idea what to do with her. 

Giving a three star rating, The Guardian's Peter Bradshaw claimed the movie proves 'claustrophobic' and 'repetitive.'








Joker: Folie À Deux has been branded the 'most disappointing follow-up to the Oscar-winning movie' by critics, as they cast doubt on Lady Gaga's 'thin' role in the film following its release on Friday; seen in September in London 







The Times' Kevin Maher wrote: 'The director Todd Phillips said there would be no follow-up to the original, but he changed his mind and the result is a derivative musical'

'This might be the most disappointing follow-up to an Oscar-winning performance since Anthony Hopkins reworked his silky and terrifying Dr Lecter from for the campy, kitschy.' 

Along with Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, other stars that had appeared in the sequel include Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Zazie Beatz and Steve Coogan. 

Joker: Folie à Deux has faced additional backlash from fans as they have claimed that Gaga is running the risk of losing her acting career. 


Lady GagaJoaquin Phoenix