After Joker: Folie à Deux released, it seemed almost a certainty that Warner Bros. chiefs Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy would get the axe. The film didn’t just fail. It was mocked, ridiculed and dragged through the streets of Hollywood as an example of how not to make a sequel. Now, over a year later, the pair continue to defend the film, calling it “revisionist”.
Warner Bros. was in big trouble at the beginning of 2025. Some of their biggest films, including the Joker sequel, weren’t doing well at the box office. Then out of nowhere, the movies started landing again. Six in a row opened north of $40 million. Minecraft. Sinners. Superman. Final Destination. And even The Conjuring: Last Rites.
The talk flipped fast, and people stopped whispering about exits and firings and started asking what their 2026 slate would look like. That momentum bought De Luca and Abdy something rare: time to speak plainly.
Talking to The Wrap, they openly discussed the failure of Joker: Folie à Deux, which starred Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. Abdy didn’t hedge. “I really liked the movie. I still do …” De Luca followed with a longer swing. “It was really revisionist. And it may be that it was too revisionist for a global mainstream audience, but I thought that Todd (Phillips, the director) and his screenwriting partner Scott (Silver) did the thing that most people making sequels don’t do, which is they decided to not repeat themselves. I do give them immense props for not repeating themselves, but it just turned out to not connect with the audience.”
These weren’t excuses. They accepted that the Joker sequel failed to connect. The studio skipped public test screenings and leaned on a friends-and-family showing. If you’ve ever shared work with people who care about you, you know how that goes.
According to Deadline, the studio appeased Todd Phillips with the final cut and a Venice premiere. The early cut thrilled De Luca and Abdy. Meanwhile, David Zaslav wasn’t convinced.
The first Joker earned $1.1 billion in 2019 and took home two Oscars. Joker: Folie à Deux finished with $207 million on a $200 million budget. Losses crept toward $200 million. This was a film that proved just how powerful a Rotten Tomatoes score and audience approval are.
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