This is no joke.

The sequel by Todd Phillips Joker: Folie à Deux made history by becoming the first Hollywood comic book film to earn a D CinemaScore from audiences. Exit polls are just as grim as audiences express their dissatisfaction with the sequel.

That misfortune translates into a troubled opening at the box office, where the Warner Bros. film falls well short of expectations. The divisive sequel earned a soft $20 million on Friday, including $7 million in previews, for an expected launch south of $50 million. Rival studios are showing the Joaquin Phoenix-Lady Gaga movie opening somewhere between $42 million and $47 million (one studio even thinks $40 million or less).

On the way to the weekend, Joker 2 It was expected to do $50 million to $60 million. That was less than the $70 million expected three weeks ago when the photo first appeared on tracking.

In 2019, joker debuted with a dreamy $96.2 million, on its way to a record-breaking worldwide total of $1 billion.

Phillips’ polarizing, R-rated sequel – which made its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival to mixed reviews – is a genre-busting, music-infused film that strays outside the comfort zone of the typical fanboy-driven comic book picture. More worrying than Thursday night’s gross score are the terrible exit scores on PostTrak, with audiences giving it a half star out of five, similar to Thursday night’s score for Francis Ford Coppola’s Megapoliswhich bombed spectacularly last weekend with $4 million after earning a D+ CinemaScore. (joker‘s PostTrak may eventually change as the weekend progresses.)

Even superhero films that don’t do well at the box office usually earn decent CinemaScores. Marvel Studios’ The miracleswhich opened last year to a dismal $46.2 million, earning a B. Ditto for fellow Warners’ film The flashwhich grossed a problematic $55 million domestically.

Fanboy sites were quick to point out the historical significance of a D grade for Joker: Folie à Deux late Friday evening. And the first joker didn’t even deserve an A but a B+.

While 2019 joker After drawing comparisons to Martin Scorsese’s previous work, the sequel is a much slower journey that focuses on the inner lives of the two leads. Critics have praised the film’s overall beauty, performances, and craftsmanship, but singled out the film for its story. “For a film that lasts two and a quarter minutes, Foil à Two narratively feels a bit thin and sometimes boring,” wrote The Hollywood Reporter‘s leading film critic David Rooney from Venice.

Regardless of its box office performance, the film still hopes to be a major player in the Oscars race, especially with Phoenix and Gaga’s performances.

Overseas, Joker 2 opens everywhere this weekend except Japan and China, where it will launch in the coming weeks. Warners is hoping for an overseas debut of $80 million to $85 million.

Joker: Folie à Deux reunites Phillips with Phoenix, who returns to the titular role after winning the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Arthur Fleck/Joker. Neither Phillips nor Phoenix were sure about making a sequel and for a while considered mounting a Broadway show instead, before finally committing to the film.

The first joker only costs $55 million to produce before being released to market. Following its success, Phillips was given a net production budget of $190 million to $200 million for the second installment. Part of that went to bringing Gaga on board in a role inspired by the comic book character Harley Quinn (the filmmakers hope she will entice female moviegoers).

Much of the film consists of fantasy musical numbers starring the couple, who meet while Arthur is in Arkham Asylum, awaiting trial for his crimes from the first film. However, neither Warners nor Phillips are comfortable calling it a straight musical, as only two of the characters sing, while a traditional musical usually involves dozens of people participating in the songs.

The studio’s marketing materials have been careful not to emphasize the film’s numerous musical sequences, much as they did in film sales. Wonkaan official musical. Warners is not alone; Paramount didn’t market it either Mean girls as a musical.

Phillips is well aware that the sequel is unorthodox because it doesn’t fully follow up on the end of jokerin which Arthur embraces his alter ego. At the Los Angeles premiere Monday, Phillips thanked the studio “for this bold twist,” adding, “It’s not necessarily the sequel you’d expect.”

The figures will be updated on Sunday morning.