How much money did ‘Joker 2′ gross in its opening days in theaters? Which movie in the saga grossed more?

Joker: Folie À Deux endured a disappointing opening weekend, earning an estimated $40 million at US box offices - less than half the amount accrued by the first film in the supervillain origin-story franchise.

Folie À Deux, the sequel to 2019’s Joker, took its underwhelming total at 4,102 movie theatres across the States, per Box Office Mojo. By comparison, Joker grossed just over $96 million on its opening weekend five years ago, having been shown at 4,374 US cinemas.

Joker went on to take around $335 million in the US, according to Box Office Mojo, with international takings of $743 million lifting the film’s overall receipts over the $1 billion mark.

Joker sequel “pathologically unnecessary”

Folie À Deux’s poor opening has come amid a string of negative reviews for the picture, which again stars Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck/Joker.

Vanity Fair’s Richard Lawson dismisses Folie À Deux as “startlingly dull”, with the BBC’s Nicholas Barber agreeing that it is “definitely not much fun”.

In the New York Post, Johnny Oleksinski writes: “For nearly two and a half hours, director Todd Phillips’ pathologically unnecessary movie cycles through so many potential reasons to exist. But, as ‘Deux’ grows increasingly disturbing, repulsive and strange on the hunt, it ultimately never finds a satisfying one.”

Joker: Folie À Deux - watch the trailer:

Will there be a third Joker movie?

Both Phoenix and Phillips, who was also at the helm of the first film, have said they don’t plan to turn the Joker franchise into a trilogy. “It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world,” the director explained to Variety in August.

Phoenix, meanwhile, has said the physical demands of appearing in Joker - he had to lose around 50 lbs for the role - are likely to be too great to warrant a third film.

“I’m now 49, I probably shouldn’t do this again,” the actor told reporters at the Venice Film Festival in September, according to Variety. “This is probably it for me.”