Buzzkill: Joker 2 and Megalopolis flop at the box office - but why?

Joker: Folie A Deux and Megalopolis were two of this year's most anticipated releases. One is the sequel to one of the most talked-about comic book movies in history, the other the apparent swan-song of one of cinema's legendary directors. Upon their release however, both found themselves floundering at the box office, overshadowed by unlikely indie victors such as Terrifier 3.

Why is this the case?

There's a multitude of reasons really. The first Joker was always a controversial film. For every person that loves it, another sees it as a terrible and even offensive portrayal of the iconic Batman villain. Therefore, many were turned off by the idea that, not only would it be getting a sequel, it was also to be a musical starring Lady Gaga? Alarm bells were surely ringing.

Discussing why Megalopolis flopped is even more complicated. The decades-long passion project of the legendary Francis Ford Coppola, he constantly disagreed with studios regarding the film's potential, and ended up selling off one of his wineries just to finance the film, leading to the high budget of 120 million. Add in a trailer comprised of AI-generated critics' quotes, and allegations of unprofessional behaviour by Coppola on set, and you have an uncontrollable storm of bad PR. With those circumstances, it's almost designed to flop, but not quite this much. Nearly a month since its release, it has grossed just 11.5 million. For those who don't know, a film needs to gross at least 2.5 times its budget to be considered a success, so Megalopolis very much isn't.

However, all these complications dance around the main reason why these films have flopped - bad word of mouth.

Megalopolis and Joker: Folie A Deux have been around many film festivals before their wide release, and both were met with extremely divisive reactions. Critics couldn't decide whether Megalopolis was a misunderstood work of genius or a bewildering creation, and Folie A Deux was deemed an unnecessary bore. However, these opinions are being taken as gospel more and more with the added presence of social media. The amount of TikToks I saw of people trashing these films before they even saw them was overwhelming. If these TikToks are getting so much traction, it's easy to assume that people are seeing these videos and deciding not to see the films for fear of disappointment.

I have seen both Joker 2 and Megalopolis. I thought Joker 2 was a frustrating but well-intentioned risk, and I thought Megalopolis was an utter mess. However, I don't want my opinion or anyone else's to influence yours, or the film's box-office returns. Just because a film is a flop at the box-office doesn't mean it's garbage. And just because some critics don't take kindly to it, doesn't mean you won't either.

Don't let social media decide whether a film's a flop or a success. That's up to you.