- Taxi Driver screenwriter Paul Schrader wasn’t a fan of Joker: Folie à Deux
- Says he went shopping during the film
- Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga sequel continues to struggle at box office
Paul Schrader, the screenwriter behind Martin Scorsese’s gritty 1976 drama Taxi Driver has seen Joker 2 AKA Joker: Folie à Deux – and it’s safe to say he wasn’t a fan.
In fact, he disliked the film so much that he reportedly left his cinema seat and decided to go shopping instead.
The screenwriter-turned-filmmaker shared his thoughts on Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga’s troubled sequel during a conversation with Interview Magazine in which he revealed he only managed to sit through around “10 or 15 minutes of it.”
“I saw about 10 or 15 minutes of it,” explained Schrader. “I left, bought something, came back, saw another 10 minutes. That was enough.”
“I don’t like either of those people”
Later in the same interview, the conversation turned to musicals which prompted Schrader to double down on his dislike of director Todd Phillips’ superhero sequel which features multiple musical moments.
The First Reformed director called Joker 2 a “really bad musical,” adding “I don’t like either of those people,” – seemingly referring to both Phoenix and Gaga and their on-screen personas as Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn.
“I don’t like them as actors. I don’t like them as characters. I don’t like the whole thing. I mean, those are people who, if they came to your house, you’d slip out the back door.”
Ouch.
Joker 2 beaten by Terrified 3
Released earlier this month, Joker: Folie À Deux hasn’t had the best time at the box office.
After riding a wave of luke-warm-to-negative reviews following its Venice Film Festival premiere, the sequel failed to perform as the studio that produced it hoped it might.
As of 15 October 2024, Joker 2 has pocketed just $165.3 million worldwide against a budget that was reportedly in the $200 million ballpark. According to outlets like Deadline, Phillips’ sequel is unlikely to break even when all is said and done.
To add insult to injury, the film was later outperformed by Damien Leone’s bloody indie horror Terrifier 3 after dropping more than 80% in ticket sales in its second week. By comparison, Leone’s sequel is rumoured to have cost just over $2 million to make and features another killer clown at its core.
Amid all of this box office chatter, Joker 2 has sped towards a digital release. According to Variety, the film can be enjoyed from the comfort of your own home from 29 October 2024.
