Todd Phillips' movie starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga is the first Hollywood comic book pic to receive the failing grade from audiences and may only open in the mid-$40 million range.

Can international box office and a release in China help save a once-presumed billion dollar blockbuster comic book sequel from major disappointment on opening weekend?

Director Todd Phillips ' sequel Joker: Folie à Deux ends on a pointedly tragic note (for more on that, read our full ending explainer ), but its final frame also contains confirmation of a new, chilling beginning — and the identity of the real Joker.