All’s mad in love, war, and supervillainery.
Oscar winners Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga go toe-to-toe as twisted lovers in “Joker: Folie à Deux,” the sequel to 2019 Batman prequel “Joker” which won Phoenix the Best Actor Academy Award. Gaga takes on the role of Harley Quinn, with Phoenix reprising his titular role as Arthur Fleck.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” is helmed by returning director Todd Phillips. The film, which has musical elements á la Francis Ford Coppola’s “One From the Heart,” centers around Arkham Asylum and its inhabitants. Gaga portrays the “Batman the Animated Series” origins for Harley Quinn, starting out as a psychiatrist who treats Phoenix’s Fleck. The cast includes returning “Joker” star Zazie Beetz, “Banshees of Inisherin” Oscar nominee Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, “Industry” breakout Harry Lawtey, and more.
Phillips speaking at CinemaCon clarified whether or not the film is a musical: “It’s funny, we’ve never really talked about it like that,” he said. “It’s a movie where music is an essential element. To me that doesn’t veer too far from the first film.”
An animated teaser for the sequel, set to Irving Berlin’s “Cheek to Cheek,” captured some of the musical components of the film, with Gaga set to sing on the soundtrack for a series of covers and a rumored original song.
The title “Joker: Folie à Deux” uses the French term folie à deux, which means an identical or similar mental disorder affecting two or more individuals, usually the members of a close family.
Warner Bros.’ “Joker” was the first R-rated movie ever to gross over $1 billion worldwide. The feature received 11 Oscar nominations overall, with Phoenix winning Best Actor and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir winning Best Original Score. Coming off of Warner Bros.’ other record-breaking hit “Barbie” (led by other Harley Quinn actress Margot Robbie) the “Joker” sequel could once again make box office history.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” cinematographer Lawrence Sher teased that the follow-up film is a “pretty risky movie,” adding to Definition magazine (via Games Radar) that the superhero movie will no doubt be “surprising for people.” Sher also added that musical features were like “dream food” when composing the aesthetic of the sequel.
The original “Joker” film was deemed controversial for its portrayal of mental health and psychiatrists. The film relied on producer Martin Scorsese’s features “Taxi Driver” and “The King of Comedy” to craft Phoenix’s Fleck persona, with longtime Scorsese collaborator Robert De Niro also appearing in the 2019 film.
Director Phillips on the CinemaCon stage acknowledged the “bizarre warnings” about the movie but applauded and thanked exhibitors because they “didn’t budge,” and that was the reason for the original’s massive box office success.
“Joker: Folie à Deux” premieres October 4 in theaters. Check out the trailer below. For all the details on the “Joker” sequel, click here. Watch the trailer here:
Additional reporting by Brian Welk
