Fan Fest News

News for Fans, By Fans!

‘Joker 2’: Lady Gaga in Early Talks to Join Joaquin Phoenix, Todd Phillips in Musical Sequel

The Joker is back and he’s bringing a friend.

Lady Gaga is in early talks to star opposite Joaquin Phoenix in director Todd Phillips’ sequel to Joker, the 2019 Oscar-winning, $1 billion Warner Bros. hit based on the DC character.

Phillips has been co-writing the script with Joker co-writer Scott Silver for a while now. He finally showed it to the studio last week. Phillips revealed on social media that the title of the new project is Joker: Folie à deux. The title references a medical term for an identical or similar mental disorder that affects two or more individuals, usually members of the same family.

Although Phoenix was seen reading the script, his involvement in the movie is not yet finalized. Warner Bros. is still in negotiations with him.

Joker - Joaquin Phoenix
JOAQUIN PHOENIX as Arthur Fleck in Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and BRON Creative’s tragedy “JOKER,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. CR: Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros.

Enter Gaga.

Details about the Joker’s character are being kept secret. However, it is known that he has a difficult relationship with Harley Quinn, his psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum. Harley Quinn falls in love with him and becomes his sidekick and partner in crime. It is unclear if Phillips and company are using other DC characters or if they are creating their own characters for this movie.

If a movie deal is made, Gaga will play Quinn. However, this new Quinn exists in a different DC universe than the Margot Robbie‘s Harley Quinn, which most recently appeared in 2021’s The Suicide Squad as well as several other films.

'Joker 2’: Lady Gaga in Early Talks to Join Joaquin Phoenix, Todd Phillips in Musical Sequel

But that’s not all: Sources say the sequel is also a musical.

When Warner first made Joker, it was not sure if it would be successful. The movie is a dark and moody character piece that is set in a decaying city from the 1970s. The commercial prospects for the movie were not good, but the movie was still made with a budget of $60 million.

Joker was released in theaters in October 2019. It did very well at the box office and was the fourth highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. The movie won best actor (for Phoenix) and best score (for Hildur Guonadottir).

Phillips produced A Star Is Born in 2018. The remake starred Bradley Cooper and Gaga.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *