Lady Gaga is “disappointed” by the immense outpouring of negative reactions to Joker: Folie à Deux, and the singer’s team is now set to quickly push other projects to help distract from the furor over the film, insiders say.
Todd Phillips’ sequel officially opened in theaters on October 4, but despite expectations, it flopped, grossing just under $40 million at the domestic box office and receiving the lowest CinemaScore in film history. comics.
Gaga, 38, is reportedly confused by the lack of love for her role as Harleen Lee Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, opposite Joaquin Phoenix, 49, as the Joker, a role that earned her the Oscar for best actor in 2019, following the standing ovation he received at the Venice Film Festival last month.
“Gaga is surprised by the response to Joker 2 and is surprised that people don’t like it after the response it received from critics before its release,” a source exclusively told DailyMail.com.
“He put a lot of heart into the movie and has a lot of respect for the DC comics fan base.”
Lady Gaga is ‘disappointed’ by the immense avalanche of negative reactions towards Joker: Folie à Deux
They added: “Their team is quietly looking at other projects they can implement as they want to move forward as quickly as possible.”
But despite the lackluster reception from fans, a second source claimed she won’t let it stop her from returning to the big screen, with the singer said to be eyeing a Quentin Tarantino film.
“She’s disappointed that Joker is practically a bomb,” they said.
“She thought this movie could get her an Oscar nomination, especially since the first movie was a huge hit and Joaquin won an Oscar.
“Now she would like to land a role in Quentin Tarantino’s next and final film. Nobody knows what it will be, but she wants to audition.
“She’s going to push hard to get a meeting with him once the script is submitted; it’s a bucket-list moment for her to be involved.”
Tarantino was set to create The Movie Critic, which would have been his tenth and final film, but on April 17, sources told The Hollywood Reporter that the project was cancelled.
The famous director is now believed to be working on a new project to mark his final film release.
The singer’s team is now set to push other projects to help distract from the backlash, inside sources told DailyMail.com.
Joker: Folie à Deux has flopped at the box office, with the psychological musical thriller also scoring the lowest CinemaScore for a comic book movie.
Gaga, whose real name is Stefani Germanotta, hopes that the failure of Joker 2 is just a small blip in her career, after the film received a D CinemaScore, the lowest score for a comic book movie.
Madame Web, which also flopped in theaters earlier this year and also received terrible reviews, has the highest score of C+.
Joker opened in theaters in 2019 with $96.2 million and ultimately grossed just over $1 billion at the global box office.
The first film, which was also directed by Phillips, had a budget of between $55 and $70 million. However, the budget for Folie À Deux more than doubled to around $200 million.
The sequel screened during the Venice International Film Festival last month, where it earned a 12-minute standing ovation, according to Deadline.
It had been projected to gross around $70 million, but the figure dropped sharply amid mixed reviews before its release.
Since then, audiences have shared their thoughts on the sequel, which features multiple musical sequences.
“Joaquin Phoenix doesn’t deserve this,” wrote one on X. “What happened to the script?”
Another user added: ‘Stop making sequels as musicals if the original wasn’t a musical.’
A source told DailyMail.com: “Gaga is surprised by the response to Joker 2 and is surprised that people don’t like it after the response it received from critics before its release.”
“The Joker’s downfall really needs to be studied,” a third shares, along with a monkey looking out a window.
One fan called it “bad” and added: “It was pretentious and boring.” It has the aesthetics of an arthouse film without substance.
‘It also insults the intelligence of the public. The songs were also disappointing. They shouldn’t have let this escape the cinemas.’
Another said: “The audience that loved the first movie is not the same audience that runs to see musicals.” This was a gigantic mistake from step 1.’
Many social media users also criticized the film’s final scene, in which Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck was brutally stabbed to death by a fellow prisoner who could, in fact, be the real Joker.
But others did launch in defense of the film, with one calling it “incredible.”
“100% as divisive as people think it is,” they continued. ‘I love that the movie didn’t try to be a traditional sequel and fully committed to the narrative it presented. It never strayed into being a movie full of Easter eggs or any other crowd-pleasing aspect.”
Another user said: “I loved Joker 2. I loved how it was structured as a meta-exploration of the first film’s fandom and the musical elements were a lot of fun.”
Another source explained: “Gaga thought this movie could get her an Oscar nomination” (pictured with director Todd Phillips, Gaga and Phoenix in September)
The source explained: “He would now like to land a role in Quentin Tarantino’s next and final film.”
One user claimed that the film “is receiving universal hate despite being more interesting and creative than Marvel has been expected to do in years.”
“Joker 2 is actually a very clever film that carries the character study format of the first film into the second in a way that will, surprisingly, leave you stunned by the end,” declared another. “I’m surprised the reception is so bad because it’s SUCH a smart movie.”
A video of Gaga and Phoenix’s awkward reaction when asked if Folie à Deux was “everything they expected” went viral amid the backlash.
For a few seconds, the two stars remained silent as they waited for the other to answer the question.
“Tell them how you feel, Joaquin,” Gaga told her co-star as she held out a fake microphone in front of him.
“It’s very difficult to talk about it, but I think we feel like we accomplished what we set out to do,” he responded.