Joaquin Phoenix's Joker 2 Is A Streaming Hit On Max After Bombing At The Box Office

Warner Bros

Just three months ago, Hollywood was heading into awards season with the expectation that Todd Phillips' "Joker: Folie à Deux" (read /Film's review) would be both a runaway blockbuster and a serious Oscar contender like its predecessor "Joker," which was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. It had Joaquin Phoenix, one of Hollywood's most formidable talents (and notorious flakes, as Todd Haynes would likely tell you) returning to the role that earned him the Best Actor trophy, and a splashy franchise addition in Lady Gaga, whose wild-eyed variation on Joker's love interest Harley Quinn was expected to get her in the running for her second Best Actress nomination.

None of this came to pass.

After opening weekend projections were gradually downsized from $100 million to $45 million, "Joker: Folie à Deux" flopped in its first frame at the box office with a paltry $38 million (whereas "Joker" made $40 million on its first day of release in 2019). Reviews were awful, while moviegoers graded it a deadly D via pollster Cinemascore. After an 81% drop in its second weekend (the worst ever for a DC movie), "Joker: Folie à Deux" vanished from the nation's theaters, and the only clown that mattered in U.S. theaters for the rest of the fall was named Art.

The battered would-be blockbuster was so toxic that it felt like it would be forever relegated to the dustbin of cinema, never to be discussed again. Well, it's a week before Christmas, and I have some semi-cheery news for Phillips and his wound-licking cohorts.

Warner Bros

According to FlixPatrol, "Joker: Folie à Deux" is currently the most streamed movie on Max following its debut last week on the service. This means it's even ahead of the recently added "Beetlejuice Beetlejuice" and yuletide favorites "Elf" and "National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation."

Does this mean "Joker: Folie à Deux" could reverse its fortunes by becoming a late-breaking streaming smash? And, if so, could a third "Joker" movie still be in the cards? God no. Even if the film is number one on the service for a month or two (which ain't gonna happen), there's no way the embattled, David Zaslav-mismanaged Warner Bros. will risk another $200 million on another go-round with Phoenix and Gaga (especially since the ending of the sequel complicates what might occur in a follow-up). For now, WB should enjoy this very minor victory, and focus on James Gunn's new run of DC movies (as well as Matt Reeves' sequel to "The Batman"). Because even though a lot of people are watching "Joker: Folie à Deux" at home, they're probably just as disenchanted by the ersatz musical as the rest of us were back in October.