Nevertheless, Folie à Deux ’s $121 million global haul has pushed Phoenix’s career box office past the $2.1 billion mark. Exactly half of that amount has come from the first Joker film, which became a box office sensation in 2019 with a lifetime haul of over $1 billion.

Rare is the musical that can waste a pop megastar of Gaga’s caliber. Rarer still is the one that will send you away humming no tune, tapping no toes. If you bought a ticket to “Joker: Folie à Deux,” then the joke — yet again — is on you.

In developing the ‘Joker’ sequel, director Todd Phillips said the team “just found ourselves writing more and more music into it”