As Beetlejuice Beetlejuice triumphs over Joker: Folie à Deux at the box office, despite being several weeks into its run, Michael Keaton has officially beaten the Clown Prince of Crime for the second time. In 1989, despite some skepticism from fans, Keaton emerged as the quintessential Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton’s Batman. That movie pitted the Caped Crusader against his arch-nemesis, the Joker, played brilliantly by Jack Nicholson. In the film’s finale, Batman strung up the Joker on a crumbling gargoyle, which eventually fell off and sent him plummeting to his death.
Keaton has just reprised his other iconic role from a Burton-directed ‘80s classic in the long-awaited sequel to Beetlejuice. Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has been a huge box office hit, quickly becoming one of the biggest blockbusters of the Halloween season. Within the same season, the Joker has returned to multiplexes in Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to Joaquin Phoenix and Todd Phillips’ surprise 2019 hit. Unlike the Beetlejuice sequel, the Joker sequel has been a massive bomb. Since Beetlejuice 2 is outperforming Joker 2 at the box office, Keaton has officially beaten the Joker for a second time.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s 6th Weekend Box Office Was Higher Than Joker: Folie à Deux’s 2nd Weekend
Beetlejuice 2 Made $7.3 Million In Its Sixth Weekend; Joker 2 Made $7 Million In Its Second
Since its massive $111 million opening weekend, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has gone on to gross $421,090,643 worldwide (via Box Office Mojo), making it the 10th highest-grossing movie of the year so far. It’s gone beyond even the most optimistic projections for a truly impressive blockbuster run. Joker: Folie à Deux, on the other hand, hasn’t been such a success story. It opened to just $37,678,467 and has gone on to gross $164,959,127 at the global box office (via Box Office Mojo), falling far short of its $200 million budget and the $1 billion success of its predecessor.
One of the clearest indicators of Joker: Folie à Deux’s failure is that Beetlejuice Beetlejuice managed to gross more in its sixth weekend than Joker 2 grossed in its second weekend. Beetlejuice 2 made $7.3 million in its sixth weekend, the weekend of October 11-13. In the same weekend, one week after its release, Joker 2 made just $7 million. This was an 81% drop from its opening weekend, marking one of the biggest second-week drops in box office history. Keaton has officially kicked the Joker’s butt for the second time.
Why Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s Box Office Is So Good And Still Going Strong
Unlike Joker 2, Beetlejuice 2 Has Been Really Well-Received
The main reason why Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has done so well is that it was really well-received. A lot of nostalgic fans of the 1988 original were interested in seeing the sequel, but the overwhelmingly positive response solidified their decision to check it out. Beetlejuice 2 has a “fresh” score of 77%, just 6% below its classic predecessor, and a CinemaScore of B+, indicating good word-of-mouth. It’s a really fun movie and a genuine crowd-pleaser, and since it arrived in September, it was able to get ahead of the Halloween horror audience.
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10 Reasons Beetlejuice 2’s Reviews Are So Positive For Tim Burton’s Long-Awaited Sequel
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice’s positive reviews confirm the long-awaited Tim Burton sequel is a success, providing a worthy follow-up to the 1988 original.
Plus, Beetlejuice Beetlejuice has a wide appeal in terms of the audience’s age range. In addition to bringing back Keaton and Winona Ryder to appeal to older ‘80s fans, the sequel cast rising star Jenna Ortega to appeal to younger Gen Z viewers. Compare all of this to Joker: Folie à Deux, which has been met with an overwhelmingly negative reaction. It has a “rotten” RT score of 33% and the lowest CinemaScore of any comic book movie ever made with a dismal D grade. For audiences who have to choose between the two, the choice is obvious.
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Is Far More Successful For Michael Keaton Than His Batman Return
Why Beetlejuice 2 Was So Successful When The Flash Bombed
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice isn’t the first time Keaton has reprised one of his most iconic roles from the ‘80s in a long-awaited legacy sequel. Like Harrison Ford reprising his roles as Han Solo, Rick Deckard, and Indiana Jones in the space of a decade, Keaton has been returning to all his old characters in quick succession. In 2023, Keaton reprised his role as Batman alongside Ezra Miller’s Flash and Sasha Calle’s Supergirl in the multiversal adventure The Flash. Barry’s interdimensional travels bring him to Burton’s Batman universe, where he recruits Keaton’s Dark Knight to help him defeat Man of Steel’s Zod.
Unfortunately, The Flash was nowhere near as successful as Beetlejuice Beetlejuice. It wasn’t as big a bomb as Joker: Folie à Deux, but it didn’t do well. Whereas Beetlejuice 2 has grossed well over $400 million, The Flash grossed just $271,433,313 against a budget of at least $200 million (via Box Office Mojo). Unlike Beetlejuice Beetlejuice, The Flash had everything going against it: mostly negative reviews, ties to an already canceled franchise, and a wildly controversial star in Miller.
Source: Box Office Mojo
Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is the sequel to the original Tim Burton classic that starred Michael Keaton and Wynona Rider in a horror-comedy that involved ghosts trying to scare off new homebuyers from taking their house. The sequel brings back Michael Keaton as the hilarious and sleazy ghost with selfish intentions, now joined by Jenna Ortega in a new role.
- Cast
- Michael Keaton , Winona Ryder , Catherine O’Hara , Jenna Ortega , Justin Theroux , Willem Dafoe , Monica Bellucci , Arthur Conti , Nick Kellington , Santiago Cabrera , Burn Gorman , Danny DeVito , Sami Slimane , Amy Nuttall , Mark Heenehan , Charlie Hopkinson , Liv Spencer , Skylar Park , Matthew Lyons , Jane Leaney , David Ayres , Sophie Holland , Walles Hamonde
- Runtime
- 104 Minutes
Joker: Folie à Deux is the sequel to Todd Phillips’ critically acclaimed comic book thriller Joker. Reprising his Academy Award-winning performance as the failed comedian Arthur Fleck, Joaquin Phoenix revisits the iconic DC character alongside Lady Gaga, who makes her debut as Joker’s lover Harley Quinn in this standalone continuity of the DC Universe.
- Director
- Todd Phillips
- Cast
- Joaquin Phoenix , Lady Gaga , Brendan Gleeson , Catherine Keener , Zazie Beetz , Steve Coogan , Harry Lawtey , Leigh Gill , Jacob Lofland , Sharon Washington , Troy Fromin , Bill Smitrovich , John Lacy , Ken Leung
- Runtime
- 138 Minutes
