DC’s Disastrous $208M Box Office Bomb Becomes a Top 10 Netflix Hit, 2 Years Later

Over recent years, Netflix has continued to establish itself as one of the titans of the modern entertainment industry. After becoming a pioneer in the shift towards streaming becoming the most popular way to access movies and TV shows, Netflix continues to dominate in the ongoing battle for streaming supremacy. The platform has a foothold in almost all genres and appeals to the majority of demographics, boasting an expansive catalog of movies available to stream at any given moment. The history of DC movies has seen a number of major box office bombs, but one of its worst has now been redeemed after landing on Netflix.

According to FlixPatrol, Joker: Folie à Deux has firmly established itself in the global top 10 movies currently on Netflix. The 2024 movie was subject to a huge buzz ahead of its release due to the critical acclaim of its predecessor and both the fascinating addition of Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn and the movie’s status as a musical. However, upon release, Folie à Deux was a major flop, grossing just $208 million against a budget of approximately $200 million. Despite the notoriety attached to its box office bomb status, Folie à Deux finally seems to have found some success.

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What Went Wrong With Folie à Deux & Why It’s Now A Netflix Success

Considering 2019’s Joker turned Batman’s iconic nemesis into one of the best DC movie anti-heroes of all time, the drop-off in quality was alarming. The first movie was critically lauded, while its sequel was widely panned. The majority of the criticism for Folie à Deux stemmed from its failure to live up to its obvious potential. Many critics felt that Lady Gaga was wasted in a role that failed to make appropriate use of her talents, and Folie à Deux‘s much-anticipated musical elements were both underwhelming and sparse.

While in many cases, a sequel with as much pre-release buzz as Folie à Deux will find at least some modicum of success, this wasn’t the case for Todd Phillips’ Joker follow-up. Word of mouth spread quickly, and the early negative reviews ultimately put many prospective audience members off before they ever made it into a theater. Folie à Deux‘s lamentable box office take reflected the movie’s terrible reputation, which was later cemented by it taking home two of the seven Golden Raspberry Awards it was nominated for.

Despite being considered by some as one of the worst comic book movie sequels ever made, Folie à Deux has worked its way into Netflix’s global top 10. In an inversion of its poor reputation contributing to a disappointing box office performance, it has also likely led to this unexpected popularity. Those who skipped the movie in theaters now have the opportunity to experience it in the comfort of their own homes, and it’s already included in the price of their monthly subscription. Streaming the sequel is a more convenient method of testing just how bad it is, but without the risk of forfeiting any more hard-earned cash. While it won’t be enough to save Joker: Folie à Deux from its box office bomb status, it might go a short way toward repairing its reputation.

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