Todd Phillips allegedly distancing himself from DC could be to blame for disgraceful ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’

It’s still early days, but Joker: Folie a Deux has proven to be a box-office bomb, and according to a Variety report, Todd Phillips allegedly detaching himself from DC could be the main reason behind that.

Inside the Todd Phillips-DC fiasco

The murmurs of potential tension between the studio and the director stem from the September 30th premiere of the film, where DC Studios head honchos James Gunn and Peter Safran were no-shows. As per the insiders, the duo snubbing one of Warner Bros.’s most high-profile releases of the year’s premiere directly points to the palpable tension between Phillips and the high-profile executives, and that there was always lingering tension ever since production of the film began in December 2022, two months after Gunn and Safran took control of operations.

Phillips allegedly “wanted nothing to do with DC,” not caring about inputs at all while making Joker: Folie a Deux. According to insiders, Bradley Cooper pulling out from producer duties for the sequel proved to be a bigger blow than expected, as the studio sorely missed his commercial acumen. Cooper and Phillips ended their producing partnership in 2021.

Phillips’ broken relationship with DC is evident in the movie’s animated title-card sequence, which has no mention of DC Studios. However, according to a DC spokesperson, the Hangover director still has an amicable relationship with Gunn and Safran. As for their absence from the premier, the spokesperson attributes it to Gunn shooting the Max series Peacemaker (which apparently lost a day of production due to Hurricane Helene), and Safran calling in sick before the event.

Joker: Folie a Deux‘s underwhelming $37.7 million opening is in stark contrast to the original’s commercial performance. Joker made more than a billion dollars at the box office against its relatively frugal $60 million budget despite mixed critical reviews. The sequel’s budget ballooned because Phillips decided to shoot in Los Angeles instead of London (where it would have been 20% cheaper) and the upfront payments to Joaquin Phoenix, Todd Phillips, and Lady Gaga, of $20 million, $20 million, and $12 million, respectively.

Warner Bros. has had a mixed year so far

Warner Bros. has experienced poor luck this year in terms of its film’s box office performances, starting with Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga. Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom proved to be another dud, just like The Color Purple. However, the massive success of Dune 2 and Beetlejuice Beetlejuice did help them balance their books for a while, but with Joker: Folie a Deux‘s disastrous performance, the studios might already be looking at maximizing their 2025 releases.