JOKER: FOLIE Á DEUX Had to Be a "Dangerous" and "Frightening" Story for Joaquin Phoenix to Do It
Director Todd Phillips and actor Joaquin Phoenix recently opened up about Joker: Folie à Deux and what the sequel had to be to get them to come back to make it.
The first movie was a huge hit, and the filmmakers wanted to do something completely new and different the second time around to keep the interest in Joker’s continuing story unique and fresh. So, this one is technically going to be a musical.
They wanted to catch the audience off guard again and for Phoenix to come back for a sequel it had to be dangerous and frightening for him.
Phoenix explained in an interview with Empire: “It’s the only way that I can do any movie. If it doesn’t feel like it’s dangerous, if there’s not a good chance that you’re gonna fail spectacularly then... what’s the point?”
His director added: “That was literally the reason to do it. The only reason Joaquin would even do a sequel is if it felt frightening to him. One thing he really got off on in the first movie was this fear, every day, this nauseous fear of like, ‘What are we fucking doing?’
“He did not want it to be easy. And he wanted to feel as scared on this one. He goes, ‘Well, if I’m gonna do it, I just want to feel that it could not work.”
Phillips goes on to say that he doesn’t see this movie as a sequel, saying: “I don’t think of it as a sequel. Hangover 2 was a sequel. So often a sequel is more of the same, just bigger.
“Of course [Folie À Deux] is a sequel, but it felt like we were making something entirely different. It’s tonally and inherently something way more different.
“The first one subverted the expectations of what it was. So how do you do that again? I always said, early on, the film should feel as if it was made by crazy people. Like the inmates are running the asylum.
“It does feel like a big swing. You just go, ‘Well, f-ck it. Why not? What are we all doing here, if not to do that?’”
I’m just as curious about this movie as I was the first one, and it sounds like they really went out of their way to deliver another unique movie-going experience, and I appreciate that this isn’t going to be a traditional sequel of sorts.
In the film, Arthur Fleck is institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him.
Arthur’s true love in the film is Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga) who forms a strong relationship with Joker and together they embark on a journey filled with violence and music.
The Joker sequel will be a jukebox musical that will consist of 15 well-known songs, and its story will mostly be set in Arkham Asylum. The film’s title, Joker: Folie à Deux, refers to the clinical term for the “shared madness,” hallucinations, and delusions of two people.
The movie also stars Lady Gaga as Harley Quinn, Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond, with Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, and Brendan Gleeson who will be playing undisclosed characters.
Joker: Folie á Deux is scheduled for release on October 4, 2024.