Joker: Folie à Deux

Joker: Folie à Deux is an upcoming American musical romantic psychological thriller film directed by Todd Phillips from a screenplay co-written with Scott Silver. The sequel to Joker (2019), loosely based on DC Comics characters, Joaquin Phoenix reprises his role as the Joker, with Lady Gaga joining the cast as his love interest, Harley Quinn. Zazie Beetz also reprises her role from the previous film, while Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener also join the cast. It is produced by Warner Bros. Pictures and DC Studios in association with Joint Effort.

Joker was conceived as a standalone film, although Warner Bros. intended for it to launch a DC Black film series. Phillips expressed interest in making a sequel, but reiterated that Joker was not set up to have one. The sequel entered development in June 2022, with Gaga and Beetz joining later that year. Principal photography took place in Los Angeles, New York City, and Belleville, New Jersey, from December 2022 to April 2023.

Joker: Folie à Deux is scheduled for a theatrical release overseas on October 2, 2024, followed by the United States two days later on October 4, 2024, by Warner Bros. Pictures.

Premise
After murdering Murray Franklin live on television, Arthur Fleck is incarcerated in Arkham State Hospital, where he meets Harleen Quinzel. The two fall madly in love and experience musical madness through their shared delusions, while Fleck's followers start a movement to free him from Arkham, ultimately giving rise to the Clown Prince of Crime's criminal empire.

Cast

 * Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck / The Joker, a mentally ill, nihilistic criminal with a clown-inspired persona, formerly an impoverished party clown and aspiring stand-up comedian.
 * Lady Gaga as Harleen Quinzel / Harley Quinn, a music therapist for Arkham Asylum who meets Arthur; her curiosity eventually turns to obsession and she forms a deadly romantic relationship with him.
 * Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond, a single mother and Arthur's former neighbor.

Leigh Gill and Sharon Washington reprise their roles as Gary and Arthur's social worker, respectively. Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, Steve Coogan, Ken Leung and Harry Lawtey have been cast as in undetermined roles.

Development
Joker (2019) was intended to be a standalone film with no sequels, but due to earning $1.079 billion on a budget between $55-70 million, Warner Bros. intended for it to launch DC Black, a line of DC Comics-based films unrelated to the DC Extended Universe (DCEU) franchise with darker, more experimental material, similar to the DC Black Label comics publisher. While director Todd Phillips said in August 2019 that he would be interested in making a sequel, depending on the film's performance and if Phoenix was interested, he later clarified that "the movie's not set up to [have] a sequel. We always pitched it as one movie, and that's it."

In October 2019, Phoenix spoke to journalist and Rolling Stone film critic Peter Travers of possibly reprising the role of Arthur, centering on Travers' asking of Phoenix if he considers Joker to be his "dream role." Phoenix stated, "I can't stop thinking about it... if there's something else we can do with Joker that might be interesting," and concluded, "It's nothing that I really wanted to do prior to working on this movie. I don't know that there is [more to do] ... Because it seemed endless, the possibilities of where we can go with the character." He was paid $20million for his involvement.

In November 2019, The Hollywood Reporter reported that a sequel was in development, with Phillips, Silver, and Phoenix allegedly expected to reprise their duties. However, Deadline Hollywood reported the same day that The Hollywood Reporter's story was false and that negotiations had not even begun yet. Phillips responded to the reports by saying that he had discussed a sequel with Warner Bros. and it remained a possibility, but it was not in development. Phillips also confirmed that The Batman (2022) would not be set in the same continuity as Joker. During an interview with Variety at the Palm Springs International Film Festival, Phillips expressed interest in a spin-off focusing on Batman, saying, "It's a beautiful Gotham. What I would like to see someone tackle is what Batman looks like from that Gotham. I'm not saying I'm going to do that. What was interesting to me about the inclusion of Batman in our movie was 'What kind of Batman does that Gotham make?' That's all I meant by that." In June 2022, Phillips announced that the sequel was in development, with a script by him and Silver. The film was also revealed to be titled Joker: Folie à Deux. By February 2023, DC Studios CEO James Gunn confirmed that Folie à Deux would be a DC Elseworlds project, taking place outside the main cinematic DC Universe (DCU).

Casting
Days after the film's official announcement, it was announced Lady Gaga was in talks to portray Harley Quinn and that the film would be a musical. Gaga would confirm her casting later that summer. She received $12 million for her involvement. In August 2022, it was reported Zazie Beetz was in negotiations to reprise her role as Sophie Dumond in the film. Beetz was confirmed to be reprising her role the following month, alongside the cast additions of Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener and Jacob Lofland. Gleeson joined the project out of his admiration for both Phoenix's "indelible" performance in the first film and Gaga, but admitted to being "kinda intimidated" by what he had to do for his role. In October, Harry Lawtey joined the cast in what Deadline Hollywood reported as a "big role".

Filming
Principal photography began on December 10, 2022, with Phillips releasing a first look on his Instagram account and Lawrence Sher serving as cinematographer. Sher had cited Francis Ford Coppola's One from the Heart (1982) as a source of visual inspiration for the film. Exterior filming occurred in Los Angeles and New York by March 2023. Gaga had filmed scenes with a crowd of extras demanding Joker's arrest outside the New York County Courthouse, which had led some people nearby to mistake it for the arrest of Donald Trump following his first indictment. Arkham Asylum scenes were filmed at the abandoned Essex County Isolation Hospital in New Jersey. In April 2023, filming took place at the "Joker Stairs", the stairway on West 167th Street in the Bronx featured prominently in the first film. Filming officially wrapped on April 5, 2023. The film is shot entirely with IMAX-certified digital cameras.

Post-production
In December 2023, Gunn revealed he reviewed shot material and gave his notes regarding it. The film reportedly has a budget of $200 million, a large increase from Joker budget of $60 million.

Music
Hildur Guðnadóttir composed the film's score, returning from the first film. The film is expected to include at least 15 musical numbers, all of them covers of pre-existing songs, with an opportunity to also feature one or two original songs; these songs will incorporate elements of Hildur's score. One of the songs expected to be included is "That's Entertainment!" from The Band Wagon (1953).

Marketing
A teaser trailer for the film was released on April 10, 2024, while Warner Bros. screened a presentation at the 2024 CinemaCon, being promoted by Phillips. It features Sammy Davis Jr. and Tom Jones' cover of the song "What the World Needs Now Is Love" (1965). Christi Carras from Los Angeles Times felt the film's presentation as a musical adhered to a trend where movie studios seemed reluctant to promote their films as musicals, citing Wonka (2023) and Mean Girls (2024) as examples. Writing for Variety, Rebecca Rubin called the footage "dark and gritty" and highlighted the portrayal of Quinn as being Fleck's "demented muse". TheWrap's Jeremy Fuster and Stephanie Kaloi described the trailer as focusing on Quinn and Fleck's "wild, destructive love". The trailer gained 167 million views in its first 24 hours, being Warner Bros.' biggest trailer premiere at the time, having surpassed that of the first trailer for Barbie (2023).

Release
Joker: Folie à Deux is scheduled to be released theatrically in the United States on October 4, 2024, by Warner Bros. Pictures. At their 2024 CineEurope presentation, Warner Bros. announced that the film would be released overseas on October 2, 2024, two days before its domestic premiere. The film will be released on IMAX screens once Megalopolis (2024) relinquishes them after their premiere one week prior.