Warner Bros. Film Chiefs Defend ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ as Misunderstood: “It Was Really Revisionist”

For months, the only real suspense surrounding Michael De Luca and Pam Abdy wasn’t whether they were getting fired—it was how long it would take for the axe to fall. The Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group co-chairs had essentially been marked with a end date.

Then everything changed. “Minecraft,” “Sinners,” “Superman,” “Final Destination,” “The Conjuring: Last Rites,” “F1” — six consecutive films with $40M+ opening.

As their 2026 slate gets prepped up, De Luca and Abdy decided to speak to The Wrap, choosing to address “Joker: Folie à Deux,” and their belief that it’s a misunderstood film.

Abdy: I really liked the movie. I still do …

De Luca: It was really revisionist. And it may be that it was too revisionist for a global mainstream audience, but I thought that Todd (Phillips, the director) and his screenwriting partner Scott (Silver) did the thing that most people making sequels don’t do, which is they decided to not repeat themselves. I do give them immense props for not repeating themselves, but it just turned out to not connect with the audience.

De Luca and Abdy had previously stated that the negative press they received began with the box-office failure of “Joker: Folie à Deux.” And they’re not deflecting blame—they admit the film’s failure was on them. By skipping test screenings in favor of a cozy friends-and-family viewing party, they misread the room.

Last year, Deadline reported that the studio "appeased" director Todd Phillips’ requests by giving him "final cut" on the film and agreeing to a world premiere at the Venice Film Festival.

De Luca and Abdy say they were thrilled with the early cut of ‘Folie à Deux’—full-on "this is genius" mode. Zaslav, however, wasn’t convinced and didn’t hesitate to voice his doubts.

There were several reasons ‘Folie à Deux’ underperformed, but in my opinion, the toxic buzz was the nail in the coffin. That all started when Warner Bros. decided to premiere the film in Venice nearly a month before its theatrical release. The negative chatter only grew, and by the time the film hit theaters, audiences had already heard all the red flags.

The original “Joker” earned $1.1 billion at the box office in 2019 and took home two Oscars. “Folie à Deux,” on the other hand, massively flopped—bringing in just $207M globally on a $200M budget. The film ultimately left Warner Bros. with losses nearing $200M.