"When " Joker" was released in 2019, it grossed over $1 billion worldwide, making it the highest-grossing R-rated movie at the time, and its star, Joaquin Phoenix, won an Academy Award. Greenlighting a sequel was a no-brainer. However, "Joker: Folie à Deux," which was released in October 2024, made just a fifth of what its predecessor earned at the box office, joining a long list of films that - surprisingly - nobody wanted to see."
"These movies had huge budgets that producers expected would turn in huge profits when released. However, the films lost millions of dollars for studios after hitting theaters. Pixar's 2025 release, "Elio," was "catastrophic" for the studio. Though producers, directors, and cast members likely assumed the films on this list would be box-office smashes, many ended up losing tens of millions of dollars. Some lost hundreds of millions. Take a look at the films that were surprise box-office bombs."
Several high-budget films that studios expected to be major earners instead became box-office bombs and caused large studio losses. Joker (2019) grossed over $1 billion and won awards, which led to a sequel. Joker: Folie à Deux (October 2024) earned roughly one-fifth of its predecessor's box office. Pixar's June 2025 release Elio underperformed catastrophically after a decade of box-office dominance for the studio. Many productions assumed to be smashes ended up losing tens or even hundreds of millions. Market demand, audience interest, and changing industry dynamics contributed to unexpected failures.
Read at Business Insider
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