A new report gets intoJoker: Folie à Deux’s choice of not having a screen test. Joaquin Phoenix’s first time as Batman’s greatest villain was a major success, netting the actor a Best Actor Oscar and amassing over $1 billion worldwide. However, the sequel could not follow suit.Joker: Folie à Deux’s overwhelmingly negative reviewsspelled doom for theDCmovie from the start, and by the end of its theatrical run, the film was left with $207.5 million on a $200 million budget, which means it lost the studio quite a lot of money.
According toPuck,a top executive from another studio panned DC/Warner’s decision not to haveJoker: Folie à Deuxscreen test, calling it “utter malpractice.” Test screenings are commonly used by Hollywood productions to see if the movie is connecting with an audience the way it should. Changes to make the final product better often come from the ordeal.Joker: Folie à Deux, like the originalJoker, did not have test screenings, as director Todd Phillips feared leaks.Future DC moviesare unlikely to skip that step, withJames Gunn’sSupermanalready having had test screenings, for instance. Check out the full quote below:
“You don’t allow the refusal to test-screen! There’s no $200 million movie in the business that you don’t test-screen! It’s utter malpractice!”
What The Joker 2 Screen Test Comments Mean
The DC Movie Was A Risky Endeavor
All signs pointed toJoker: Folie à Deuxneeding to have test screenings, so the fact that it did not end up going through that process is an abnormality in Hollywood. As the unnamed studio executive mentioned toPuck, any film with such a high budget, like that of theJokersequel, needs to be screen-tested. That process can bevital to learning that certain elements do not connect with audiencesas thought or that some characters are more loved than expected, and so adjustments can be made to change them accordingly.
SinceJoker: Folie à Deuxwas the first superhero movie musical, especially after the firstJokerwas a more traditional crime drama, test screenings were needed. A sequel that is such a departure from the original and its genre was always bound to generate heated reactions, and without test screenings, Warner could not properly gauge what they would look like. Since the originalJokerhad a budget of $55 million, it is a very different thing to let it skip test screenings in comparison to its sequel, priced at $200 million. The studio had a lot more to lose.
Our Take On The Joker 2 Screen Test Comments
The DC Sequel Dropped The Ball
I’m with the studio executive when it comes toJoker: Folie à Deuxnot having had test screenings. I did not like the movie at all. I believe that had it played for test audiences, Warner would have been able to see before its release that the musical route and the uneventful story did not connect with moviegoers. That way,the final product might have been different. It is incredibly risky not to screen-test such an expensive movie to make, and in the end,Joker: Folie à Deuxpaid a lofty price for that decision.
