Paul Schrader Walked Out of ‘Joker 2’ After 15 Minutes to Go Purchase One thing, Then Returned and May Solely Final 10 Minutes: ‘A Actually Dangerous Musical’

Paul Schrader went to the movie show to look at “Joker: Folie à Deux” and solely lasted round 20 minutes or so earlier than deciding he couldn’t take it any longer. The “Joker” sequel, headlined by Joaquin Phoenix and Woman Gaga, has flopped on the field workplace amid damaging critiques and stands to lose between $150 million and $200 million throughout its run.

“I noticed about 10 or quarter-hour of it,” Schrader mentioned whereas speaking to Jeremy O. Harris for Interview journal. “I left, purchased one thing, got here again, noticed one other 10 minutes. That was sufficient.”

Schrader’s esteemed profession consists of writing the scripts for motion pictures like “Taxi Driver,” which served as a main inspiration for the primary “Joker” movie in 2019. He went on to name the sequel “a very unHealthy musical.”

“I don’t like both of these folks,” 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 entire thing. I imply, these are individuals who, in the event that they got here to your home, you’d slip out the again door.”

Whereas anticipation was excessive was for “Joker: Folie à Deux” following the success of the 2019 movie, which earned $1 billion on the worldwide field workplace and gained Phoenix the Oscar for finest actor, the sequel was shortly met with damaging critiques after its world premiere on the Venice Movie Pageant. It then opened to a dismal $37 million on the home field workplace. Selection reviews the sequel is prone to finish its theatrical run with round $210 million worldwide, whereas the primary “Joker” movie grossed $248.4 million globally after three days of launch.

In his evaluate of the sequel, Selection’s Owen Gleiberman wrote: “The idea is audacious however the execution much less so in a film that takes a step again from the hazard of ‘Joker.’ The casting of Woman Gaga actually sounded promising, as a result of she’s an important actor, and was placed on earth (amongst different issues) to make musicals. However Gaga, who has a beautiful unforced presence in ‘Folie à Deux,’ is drastically underused.”

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