The first official trailer for the highly anticipated sequel “Joker: Folie à Deux” has finally been released. The first footage show Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga fall in love in a twisted way in the upcoming musical film.
Director Todd Phillips debuted the trailer at the 2024 CinemaCon, the annual convention for movie theater owners. “Folie à Deux” follows the successful 2019’s “Joker,” for which Phoenix won an Oscar as Best Actor.
While the original movie was supposed to be a stand alone film, both Phillips and the actor wanted to bring the character to life one more time. “We loved the character of Arthur too much, but we didn’t want to jinx the [original] movie,” Phillips said. “We cast Gaga because she’s magic,” he added at the conference.
Phillips weighs in the “musical” aspect of Joker 2
The first movie served as an origin story for Batman’s most famous enemy, following Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian whose descent into mental illness started a counterrevolution. Meanwhile, the second film has been reported to be a “jukebox musical,” but Phillips clears the air:
“Music is an essential element,” said the director during the panel, confirming that music and dancing will be featured heavily in the picture. “It doesn’t veer too far from the first film. We use music to make us whole, to balance the fractures in ourselves,” he added.
“Joker” soared to unprecedented heights as a blockbuster, crossing the $1 billion mark worldwide, against a modest budget of $62.5 million, and making history as the first R-rated film to achieve such a feat.
Now, anticipation mounts as “Joker 2,” titled “Folie à Deux,” gears up for its big-screen debut on Oct. 4, 2024 — precisely five years after its predecessor. This time, after the success of the first one, the reported production budget is $200 million.