UPDATE: 2025-08-10 08:42 EST BY BRENNAN KLEIN

Joker 2 Hits The Top Range Of Saturday’s $6.7-7 Million Projections, Terrifier 3 Explodes to $18.3 Million

This article was originally written Saturday AM and has been updated Sunday AM with altered box office projections (in bold), a full chart, and further analysis.

Joker: Folie à Deuxis hitting an all-time low in its second weekend at the box office, falling far behind the rival evil clown movieTerrifier 3. TheJoker 2box officehas failed to take the world by storm, debuting more than $100 million below the original 2019 DC Comics movie during its worldwide opening weekend. Meanwhile, the slasher sequelTerrifier 3, which features the return of Art the Clown (David Howard Thornton) has been steadily gaining steam in its early projections during the lead-up to Halloween.

PerDeadline, as of Sunday morning,Terrifier 3is projected to take the No. 1 slot at the domestic box officeoverJoker: Folie à Deuxwith a 3-day opening weekend gross of$18.3 million, which outgrosses the entire $15.7 million worldwide theatrical run ofTerrifier2in a single weekend. Meanwhile,Jokeris cratering, currently projected to take in a second weekend gross of$7.055 million. This represents a drop of81.3%from its already grim domestic opening weekend gross of $37.7 million.

Joker: Folie à Deux, which is now set to havethe worst week 2 drop of any movie featuring a DC character,as well as the worst of the entire superhero genre, including notorious flopsThe Marvels(78.1%) andShazam! Fury of the Gods(69%). PerBox Office Mojo, it is headed for the 20th worst week 3 drop in domestic box office history, knocking 1991’sReturn to the Blue Lagoon(80.8%) down to No. 21. In the process, it is falling straight from No. 1 to No. 3 on the domestic chart for the weekend. See the full domestic Top 5 below:

1

$18.3 million

$18.3 million (weekend 1)

2

$13.45 million

$83.7 million (weekend 3)

3

$7.055 million

$51.6 million (weekend 2)

4

$7.05 million

$275.6 million (weekend 6)

5

$3.8 million

$3.8 million (weekend 1)

WithJokerfalling so far,theWild Robotreleasehas maintained its spot at No. 2, where it fell during its second weekend. MeanwhileBeetlejuice Beetlejuicehas fallen from No. 3 to No. 4 with a $7.05 million gross just a hair under Warner Bros.' reported earnings forJoker.The only other major new release to land in the Top 5 is the Pharrell Williams animated LEGO biopicPiece by Piece, which debuted at No. 5 with $3.8 million, a disappointing beginning considering the movie’s $16 million budget and 81% Rotten Tomatoes score.

Meanwhile, theTransformers Onereleasehas fallen off the chart, going from No. 4 to No. 6 with a $3.65 million 3-day gross bringing its cumulative domestic total to $52.8 million. Its estimated cost is between $75 and $147 million, so it may not have made its budget back yet, as it only recently crossed $100 million worldwide. Meanwhile, Blumhouse’sSpeak No Evil, which recently became their highest-grossing movie of the year, has fallen from No. 5 to No. 11 with $1.5 million. It’s only a 46% drop, butthe sheer number of new releases has pushed it down.

The anime movieMy Hero Academia: You’re Nextand the anniversary re-release ofNightmare Before Christmasalso opened this weekend, landing at No. 8 with $3 million and No. 9 with $2.3 million respectively.

The weekend’sother well reviewed awards season new releases have fared even worse thanPiece by Piece, with theSNLdramedySaturday Night(Certified Fresh at 80%) debuting at No. 7 with $3.4 million and the Sebastian Stan-led Donald Trump biopic (also Certified Fresh, at 77%) taking No. 10 with $1.58 million. The former title had an estimated budget of roughly $30 million while the latter reportedly cost $16 million, so neither is faring particularly well.

What This Week 2 Drop Means For Joker 2

The DC Comics Sequel Is In Dire Straits

This week 2 drop for the Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga-led sequel is astounding, but not necessarily a surprise considering the widespread negativity inJoker: Folie à Deuxreviewsfrom both critics and audiences alike. In addition to earning a D CinemaScore, the worst for any comic book movie in history, it has a critic score of 33% and an audience score of 32% on Rotten Tomatoes at the time of writing. However, this result is especially catastrophic given the movie’s roughly $200 million budget, which reportedlyplaces its break-even point around $450 million.

It was likely only going to be able to break even if it kept the same pace as the original movie…

At the end of its first week,Joker: Folie à Deuxhad only earned $121.5 million worldwide. While it performed better internationally than in North America during its debut, it still turned out lukewarm results overseas, falling far behind initial projections. It may not prove to have the same kind of steep week 2 drop internationally when its overseas weekend is tabulated on Sunday afternoon, but its prospects are looking dire nonetheless, as it was likely only going to be able to break even if it kept the same pace as the original movie, which only had a 41.9% drop.

Our Take On The Weekend Box Office

Terrifier 3 Is Carrying The Domestic Marketplace

ThoughJoker: Folie à Deuxis crashing and burning, theTerrifier 3releaseshows that there is still hope for the October box office. Although its opening weekend is lower thanJoker’s, it is operating in an entirely different sphere. To begin with, the notoriously gory slasher movie has a more limited audience than the DC movie, even though both are rated R. Additionally, the Art the Clown movie only cost $2 million, meaning it has already more than broken even in just three days, becoming the latest 2024 horror hit.

Joker: Folie a Deux

Cast

Joker: Folie à Deux is the sequel to Todd Phillips' critically acclaimed comic book thriller Joker. Reprising his Academy Award-winning performance as the failed comedian Arthur Fleck, Joaquin Phoenix revisits the iconic DC character alongside Lady Gaga, who makes her debut as Joker’s lover Harley Quinn in this standalone continuity of the DC Universe.

Terrifier 3

Terrifier 3 follows Sienna and her brother as they attempt to move past the traumatic events of Art the Clown’s Halloween massacre. As they embrace the Christmas season, Art reemerges, intent on turning their holiday into a nightmare, continuing his reign of terror.