‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Debuts Behind ‘Harry Potter’ Re-Release in China’s Theaters

The offbeat comic book sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux” made its box office debut this past weekend in China, its last big market. It came in second place behind “Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets” there.

The second “Harry Potter” film made $4.6 million in its rerelease over the weekend, while “Joker 2” grossed $5.9 million from 11,204 screens over the course of five days. China was not allowed to see the 2019 original “Joker,” which made an incredible $743 million in its foreign distribution. The “Joker” and “Harry Potter” franchises are distributed by Warner Bros., which also posted the order on box office rankings. However, the studio refused to clarify the comparable three-day total for “Joker 2.”

Over the weekend, “Folie à Deux” brought in an additional $14.7 million from 78 markets at the international box office, bringing its total to $135.5 million. As of right now, the movie has made $192 million total, including $56.4 million in North America. The production costed $200 million, and throughout its theatrical run, it is expected to lose between $150 and $200 million.

Starting with the original film “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” on October 11, all eight films in the magical series about everyone’s favorite boy wizard will return to Chinese cinemas. The first “Potter” film ranked second on China’s box office charts with $6.6 million, behind local-language war drama “The Volunteers: The Battle of Life and Death,” and has grossed $10 million so far. Re-releases will continue in the coming months, with the remaining seven titles being released weekly through November. The “Harry Potter” films were made between 2001 and 2011, a period when China’s film industry was developing rapidly but had not yet reached its current level. So this will be the first time that this franchise will be playing on such a large scale in the country.

Other Hollywood releases, “The Wild Robot” from Universal and DreamWorks Animation, held the top spot at the worldwide box office throughout the weekend with $23.1 million from 76 nations. To date, the well-reviewed family movie has brought in $94.3 million abroad and $196 million worldwide. “The Wild Robot” debuted in 21 additional countries this past weekend, including the UK and Ireland ($4.2 million), Belgium ($700,000), and Ukraine ($500,000), thanks to the studio’s deliberate timing of the global release.