Despite all the upsets that have hit Warner Bros. Discovery’s DC slate in the last few months, their non-DCU offerings are all very much on track. This includes the highly anticipated sequel to Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix as a dark, real-world version of the Batman villain. Joker: Folie a Deux is not expected to hit theaters until 2024, but director Todd Phillips has already started teasing fans with a new look at the leading man himself.
Joker became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time when it was released in 2019, the first to break the $1 billion mark and winner of Best Actor at the Oscars. Talk of a potential sequel started happening almost immediately, but due to the Covid pandemic, there was a long wait before things became official. Earlier this year, the movie’s title was announced, along with the information that the sequel will have a musical theme and stars Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn.
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While many fans are happily providing fan art interpretations of what Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck and Gaga’s Harley Quinn could look like in the new movie, director Phillips has now given a very early look at the title character via his Instagram account. Check out the image below.
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Joker 2 Will Triple the Original’s Budget and Feature Elaborate Dance Sequences
Warner Bros. Pictures
The original Joker was made on a very moderate $50 million, but that all changes in the sequel thanks to the massive success of the first movie. Joker: Folie a Deux reportedly has a budget closer to $150 million, with Phillips and Phoenix claiming a $20 million chunk, while Lady Gaga will take $10 million. This already combines to make the total budget of the first Joker, which instantly suggests why the budget has rocketed so much.
Reports from earlier this year detailed a possible reason for the sequel being so musically orientated, claiming that the film shifts its main focus from Arthur Fleck to become a story told about Fleck from the perspective of Gaga’s Quinn. At the time, it was said, “Apparently, Joker 2 isn’t so much a Joker movie, it’s a Harley Quinn… It’s from Harley Quinn’s perspective. And the reason it’s a musical is because that’s how she perceives her relationship with Joker.”
As well as its two main stars, Joker: Folie a Deux has been filling out its cast with a top-class ensemble that will certainly ensure the movie is not short of supporting talent for its Oscar-worthy leads. Brendan Gleeson became one of the latest names added to the film, and he will join Zazie Beetz, who reprises her role as Sophie Dumond, Catherine Keener, and Jacob Lofland.
As Phillips noted in his shared image, this is only day one, meaning that the director could soon share more behind-the-scenes photos from the shoot. In the meantime, it certainly looks like we will be getting more of the same Arthur Fleck from Phoenix. How his character develops from the original movie will be a very interesting progression to watch unfold. Joker: Folie a Deux will arrive in theaters on October 4, 2024.
