Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix don't seem to be enough on their own to make the 'Joker' sequel a hit ...
and the early returns are anything but promising. "Joker: Folie à Deux" is stumbling out of the gate ..
. making only $20 million at the domestic box office Friday, and that's not even the worst part. The Todd Phillips -led movie is clearly bombing with moviegoers .
.. earning a "D" grade on CinemaScore.
It's a record, albeit a bad one ...
the lowest CinemaScore grade ever given to a comic book movie. Yes -- lower than "Madame Web." Rotten Tomatoes isn't laughing with 'Joker 2' either .
.. giving the movie a 32% critic score, which is just a tick above the film's 31% audience score.
Splat. Joaquin won an Oscar for the first go-round, but this flick combines a love story with a musical ..
. it's not going over well, and folks are ripping it to shreds online. Projections for the opening weekend box office are sitting below $50 million .
.. worth noting because the budget was reportedly $200 million, a huge increase from the $65 million needed to make the first film.
Win some, lose some, we suppose. 🤷🏽♂️.