Friday, March 29, 2024

Batman Franchise Takes a Hit as Sexualized “Killing Joke” Animated Film Drops 81% Second Day

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Holy bat box office!

Warner Bros. opened “The Killing Joke,” an animated R rated Batman film on Monday and made $3.1 million.  Sounds good, right?

On Tuesday, “The Killing Joke” had its punchline: an 81% drop off from the day before, with just $600,000.

The audience was gone.

A 45 on Rotten Tomatoes didn’t help, but it’s worse. “The Killing Joke” is full of sex and violence. Batman and Batgirl have sex, reportedly. Last week, as fans filed out of a preview in New York, I asked them if that part was true. The fan boys came out of the screening heads in hands, nearly sobbing. They were not going back.

“The Killing Joke” is based on a graphic novel. Originally it was going to be released just on home video. But for some reason, someone at DC Comics got the idea they should put it in movie theatres for a couple of weeks. “The Killing Joke” hits DVD and Blu Ray on August 2nd. That’s a week from now. It’s going to be a long, long week.

Roger Friedman
Roger Friedmanhttps://www.showbiz411.com
Roger Friedman began his Showbiz411 column in April 2009 after 10 years with Fox News, where he created the Fox411 column. His movie reviews are carried by Rotten Tomatoes, and he is a member of both the movie and TV branches of the Critics Choice Awards. His articles have appeared in dozens of publications over the years including New York Magazine, where he wrote the Intelligencer column in the mid 90s and covered the OJ Simpson trial, and Fox News (when it wasn't so crazy) where he covered Michael Jackson. He is also the writer and co-producer of "Only the Strong Survive," a selection of the Cannes, Sundance, and Telluride Film festivals, directed by DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus.
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