Joker 2,' starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, fails to rise to the box office standards set by its Oscar-winning predecessor.

Joker: Folie à Deux,” the sequel to the hit 2019 movie based on the “Batman” comics archvillain, was the top box-office draw this weekend amid caustic reviews and audience disdain. The Warner Bros. Pictures’ (NASDAQ:WBD) feature grossed $40 million,

Folie à Deux” is the No. 1 movie at the box office, but it might not be destined for a happy ending. In a turn of events that only Arthur Fleck would find funny, the follow-up to Todd Phillips’ 2019 origin story about the Batman villain opened in theaters nationwide this weekend to a muted $40 million,

Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga and co-writer-director Todd Phillips bend the architecture of the comic-book origin story toward a musical, not all that tunefully.