DC's "Joker: Folie à Deux," the highly anticipated sequel to "Joker" arriving five years after its predecessor, faced polarized media reviews even before its release. Its opening weekend performance reportedly fell short of audience expectations, leading to mixed critical reception and a dismal D-grade on CinemaScore, making it the first comic book movie to receive such a low rating. 
Despite this, legendary "The Godfather" trilogy director Francis Ford Coppola has offered a surprising endorsement of Todd Phillips' "Joker: Folie à Deux" — even as his own epic sci-fi feature, "Megalopolis," grapples with similar box office and critical challenges.
In an Instagram post, Francis Ford Coppola stated, "Todd Phillips' films always amaze me. I've thoroughly enjoyed his work since 'The Hangover.' He's always one step ahead of the audience, never playing by the rules. I want to congratulate 'Joker: Folie à Deux' here."
To date, "Joker: Folie à Deux" earned only $37.8 million in its opening weekend, falling short of Warner Bros.' earlier projection of $40 million. Sunday's box office take was a mere $6.2 million, a 45% decline from Saturday's $11.3 million. Internationally, the film has grossed $81.1 million.
Meanwhile, Francis Ford Coppola's "Megalopolis" debuted with a modest $4 million in its opening week and also received a D+ rating from CinemaScore.
via： THR