We are a little less than a year away from Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux” being released in theaters. Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix are set to star in the sequel, which is said to be a musical.
This past Valentine’s Day, Phillips posted a first look at Phoenix and Gaga in “Joker: Folie à Deux.” In October, he gave us another look, this one featuring a rain-drenched Phoenix surrounded by umbrellas. Today, he’s decided to give us two additional images, including one of Phoenix’s Joker locked up in his Arkham Asylum cell.
Last Spring, Grace Randolph had reported that ‘Folie à Deux’ would tell its story via the perspectives of both Gaga’s Harley Quinn and Phoenix’s Joker. The film’s main plot would revolve around musical therapy sessions at Arkham Asylum.
Lawrence Sher also confirmed that he and Phillips used Francis Ford Coppola’s ravishingly beautiful “One from the Heart” as a template and starting point for the visual schema of the upcoming sequel.
Meanwhile, the musical style of ‘Folie à Deux’ is said to be heavily inspired by Liza Minelli musicals such as “Cabaret” and “That’s Entertainment!” Phillips also mentioned that if “Joker” was his answer to “Taxi Driver,” then ‘Folie A Deux’ was partly influenced by Scorsese’s 1977 bomb “New York, New York” starring Robert De Niro and Minelli.
The first “Joker” made $1 billion dollars worldwide. The fact that this sequel is a musical starring Lady Gaga makes me think that maybe it won’t be as popular a film as the first one. Just a hunch.
One thing is for sure, Phillips seems to be creatively swinging for the fences with this one. You can’t fault him for lack of ambition.
Netflix and Skydance Animation have also called it quits. The two sides announced Monday that they're ending the animated film deal struck back in 2023, framing it as a mutual decision.