Say what you want about Todd Philip’s Joker, but you can’t deny the fact that it raked in more than $1 billion in revenue and gave Joaquin Phoenix superstar (or rather supervillain?) status overnight. It was no wonder that Warner Bros happily greenlit the sequel called Joker: Folie à Deux.
If that piece of news wasn’t juicy enough for you, here’s what will really catch your attention. According to a report by The Hollywood Reporter, the folks at Warner Bros are in talks with Lady Gaga to play Harley Quinn.
Of course, take all of this with a pinch of salt. The same report also mentions that Phoenix is yet to sign on to reprise his role in the first place. However, if everything does go according to plan, that’d be an interesting pairing to see on the big screen.
What has got us thinking though is how much inspiration will Phillips borrow from Harley’s comic book past. The Hangover director flipped the character of the clown prince on its head with the 2019 movie. Phillips has also been co-writing the script for a while now with Scott Silver, who also worked on the last Joker movie.
Last week, the director announced the sequel on his social media. Called Joker: Folie à Deux, the title refers to a shared delusional disorder, usually affecting members of the same family. This should play into the supposed rumours of Harley Quinn entering the series.
Yet another rumour supporting the Gaga claim is that the upcoming Joker sequel is also set to be a musical. Which is interesting to say the least. We’ve seen Gaga’s tremendous acting chops in A Star Is Born and House of Gucci, and she’s a powerhouse when it comes to vocals, so we don’t see anyone else fit for the role.
Back in 2019, Warner Bros took a gamble with Joker, allocating it a minuscule budget of just $60 million. Considering Phillip’s track record, no one was expecting the movie to bode well with the audience or critics. So colour us surprised when the exact opposite happened when the movie went on to become a record-breaking opener and earned 11 Oscar nominations, including the best actor win for Phoenix and the best score for Hildur Guonadottir.
Like we said earlier, there’s a lot to be confirmed. Although, we can’t deny that our excitement is at its peak.
( Image credits: Warner Brothers )
