Can international box office and a release in China help save a once-presumed billion dollar blockbuster comic book sequel from major disappointment on opening weekend?

Joker: Folie à Deux' is off to a shaky performance at the domestic box office after earning $20 million on its opening day.

Outside the top 5 is Lionsgate’s misfire White Bird with $650K today, and $1.5M-$2M opening for the weekend.

The sequel, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, is the first Hollywood comic book film to get such a low grade.

Todd Phillips' sequel to his 2019 vigilante extravaganza, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, has so little energy that it sags off the screen.

"Joker: Folie à Deux" is dancing into theaters today. The highly anticipated sequel, which returns Joaquin Phoenix to the grimy world of Gotham City and adds Lady Gaga as his Harley Quinn, is a very different movie than the $1 billion-grossing original.

"Joker: Folie à Deux" is the sequel to Todd Phillips' gritty 2019 thriller "Joker," which grossed over $1 billion and earned Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar for best actor for his portrayal of the legendary DC Comics villain.

Joker: Folie à Deux is a movie horrified by its predecessor, horrified by its success, its maddening cowardice to pick a lane, its public misinterpretation forged into perverse celebration of a lunatic with a bone to pick.