Joaquin Phoenix’s Latest Movie Is a Huge Box Office Flop

Joaquin Phoenix may have scored a number of box office hits throughout his decades-long career – 2019’s Joker grossed over $1 billion, becoming Phoenix’s highest-grossing film – but one of his latest credits has sadly fallen onto the roster of the actor’s box office flops. Beau Is Afraid, a horror film written and directed by Ari Aster, is a certified box office failure after it failed to live up to expectations.

Premiering at the Alamo Drafthouse Cinema on April 1, 202,3 before beginning a limited theatrical release in the United States on April 14, 2023, with a wide release the following weekend, Beau Is Afraid finished its theatrical run with a worldwide total of $9,837,656. That number is pretty abysmal considering the film had a reported $35 million budget, not counting marketing costs. Take into consideration that theaters also get a sizeable cut of that $9.8 million gross total, and the film is a massive flop.

While those numbers aren’t necessarily great, Beau Is Afraid isn’t a complete flop on every level. According to Deadline, the film posted the top per-screen average of the year so far and the best limited opening for distributor A24 since Uncut Gems when it grossed $320,396 at four locations in New York and Los Angeles. The film has also enjoyed some favor among critics and viewers. Beau Is Afraid currently holds a 71% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 67% critics score, making it certified fresh in both metrics. A critics consensus reads, “Beau Is Afraid is overstuffed to the point of erasing the line between self-flagellation and self-indulgence, but Ari Aster’s bravura and Joaquin Phoenix’s sheer commitment give this neurotic odyssey undeniable power,” with the audience saying, “it’s very long, very confusing, and definitely not for everyone — but love it or hate it, it’s hard not to respect Beau Is Afraid‘s ambition.”

Beau A24’s Beau Is Afraid revolves around “a paranoid man [who] embarks on an epic odyssey to get home to his mother.” Along with Phoenix, the movie also stars Nathan Lane, Amy Ryan, Kylie Rogers, Denise Ménochet, Parker Posey, Stephen McKinley Henderson, Richard Kind, Hayley Squires and Michael Gandolfini, among others. Beau Is Afraid was produced for Square Peg by Aster and Lars Knudsen.

Beau Is Afraid is still available in select theaters. The film is not currently available on any streaming platform. The movie’s distribution company, A24, has recent hits like Everything Everywhere All At Once and Bodies Bodies Bodies available to stream on Showtime, meaning it’s possible Beau Is Afraid will wind up on Paramount+ with Showtime when it does find a streaming home, though that has not yet been confirmed.