Paul Schrader Walked Out of ‘Joker 2’ After 15 Minutes to Go Buy Something, Then Returned and Could Only Last 10 Minutes: ‘A Really Bad Musical’

Paul Schrader went to the movie theater to watch “Joker: Folie à Deux” and only lasted around 20 minutes or so before deciding he couldn’t take it any longer. The “Joker” sequel, headlined by Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, has flopped at the box office amid negative reviews and stands to lose between $150 million and $200 million during its run.

“I saw about 10 or 15 minutes of it,” Schrader said while talking to Jeremy O. Harris for Interview magazine. “I left, bought something, came back, saw another 10 minutes. That was enough.”

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Schrader’s esteemed career includes writing the scripts for movies like “Taxi Driver,” which served as a primary inspiration for the first “Joker” film in 2019. He went on to call the sequel “a really bad musical.”

“I don’t like either of those people,” he added about Gaga and Phoenix. “I don’t like them as actors. I don’t like them as characters. I don’t like the whole thing. I mean, those are people who, if they came to your house, you’d slip out the back door.”

While anticipation was high was for “Joker: Folie à Deux” following the success of the 2019 film, which earned $1 billion at the worldwide box office and won Phoenix the Oscar for best actor, the sequel was quickly met with negative reviews after its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It then opened to a dismal $37 million at the domestic box office. Variety reports the sequel is likely to end its theatrical run with around $210 million worldwide, whereas the first “Joker” film grossed $248.4 million globally after three days of release.

In his review of the sequel, Variety’s Owen Gleiberman wrote: “The concept is audacious but the execution less so in a movie that takes a step back from the danger of ‘Joker.’ The casting of Lady Gaga certainly sounded promising, because she’s a great actor, and was put on earth (among other things) to make musicals. But Gaga, who has a lovely unforced presence in ‘Folie à Deux,’ is drastically underused.”

“Joker: Folie à Deux” continues to play in theaters nationwide.

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