How much did the new Todd Phillips movie ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ cost to make?
By the standards of the comic book genre, Todd Phillips’ Joker was a remarkably cheap undertaking for Warner Bros, which helped ensure it returned a hefty profit when the dust had settled on its theatrical run.
The title character is one of the most famous in the entire superhero space, and in an age where blockbusters featuring characters with similar levels of visibility and recognition cost hundreds of millions of dollars to produce, the thrifty $55million spent on Joker was a comparative drop in the ocean.
The studio’s reluctance to let Phillips take one of its prized assets and use them as the basis for a stripped-back, R-rated psychological thriller that barely flirted with the larger Batman universe was a major reason why the costs were kept so low, but those limitations worked out in everyone’s best interest.
Joker became the first R-rated film in history to clear a billion dollars at the box office, won Joaquin Phoenix an Academy Award for ‘Best Actor’, and turned an estimated profit of $437m once marketing, distribution, and theatrical costs had been factored in.
That’s a substantial chunk of change, but as tends to be the rule whenever any hit movie gets a sequel, the financial stakes have been raised for the follow-up. Arthur Fleck returns to the screen in Folie à Deux, a follow-up that drops a musical element into the mix, even though none of the other Joker actors other than Phoenix and co-star Lady Gaga get the chance to showcase their pipes.
The gaps between a new movie with Joker involved have gradually grown shorter, with almost 30 years passing between Jack Nicholson and Heath Ledger. However, since the 2008 release of The Dark Knight, the part has been filled by not only Phoenix on two occasions but also Jared Leto and Barry Keoghan.
The ‘Clown Prince of Crime’ clearly remains a pressing concern for Warner Bros and DC, even if Phillips has already confirmed that his Joker film series will end with Folie à Deux. There are a certain set of pressures and expectations that come with the sequel to a billion-dollar hit, and more often than not, the studio decides the best way of trying to handle those pressures is by throwing more money at it.
What is the budget for Joker: Folie à Deux?
Almost four times as much as its predecessor, with the reported budget for Folie à Deux coming in at a cool $200m, which is quite a leap from the first to the second chapter.
Admittedly, it’s a standard ballpark figure for a high-profile comic book adaptation, but still surprising, considering its predecessor didn’t break the bank. The trinity of Phillips, Phoenix, and Gaga don’t come cheap, though, not to mention the scope and scale of the sequel being drastically increased.
Nobody really bats an eyelid these days when a superhero flick, or even a picture tangentially connected to a costumed crimefighter, carries that kind of price tag. However, with Warner Bros having exponentially increased its investment, the pressure is even greater on Folie à Deux to follow in the footsteps of Joker circa 2019 and make a killing at the box office.
What is the most expensive movie to ever feature the Joker?
The least expensive movie featuring the Joker remains Tim Burton’s 1989 favourite Batman, which cost $48 million. Of course, that makes perfect sense, considering it was released 35 years ago.
Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight came in at $185 million, Leto’s debut as the ‘Jester of Genocide’ in Suicide Squad was thriftier but not by much at $175 million, with Keoghan’s glorified cameo in Matt Reeves’ The Batman reported to be part of a $185 million production.
Not only is Folie à Deux the single most expensive movie to star the Joker, but it’s one of the costliest visits to Gotham City in cinema history, with only Andy Muschietti’s The Flash and Zack Snyder’s Justice League requiring the studio to dig deeper into its pockets.
