A first look at the upcoming DC Comics film “Joker: Folie à Deux” has been released by director Todd Phillips, the sequel to 2019’s “Joker.”
On Saturday afternoon, the director, who is best known for directing the “The Hangover” series of films, shared a photo from the film’s first day of shooting on Instagram that featured lead actor Joaquin Phoenix.
“Day 1. Our boy. # “joker,” Phillips wrote next to a picture of Phoenix reprising his Oscar-winning role as Arthur Fleck aka the Joker.
Phoenix, 48, is depicted in the cryptic image lying back, shirtless, with dead-eyed expression, and staring at the ceiling while his character gets his face shaved at Arkham Asylum from what appears to be an orderly.
The final shot of 2019’s R-rated “Joker” depicted Fleck running through the asylum’s corridors to the tune of Frank Sinatra’s “That’s Life,” leaving bloody footprints indicating that he had clearly killed another victim.
Lady Gaga will portray Harley Quinn, the Joker’s iconic love interest, in the musical sequel. Catherine Quicker, Brendan Gleeson and Zazie Beetz likewise star in the film.
The Grammy-winning artist announced the casting via Twitter in August. Joker: Two-part dance. 10.04.24,” she tweeted, displaying an animated clip of Joker and Quinn dancing to announce the movie’s release date.
Margot Robbie, who played Quinn in “Suicide Squad,” “Birds of Prey,” and “The Suicide Squad” in 2016, 2020, and 2021, recently said that she is “so happy” Lady Gaga is playing the supervillain with the baseball bat.
“It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning, all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters, the way like Macbeth or Batman always gets passed from great actor to great actor,” Robbie told MTV News in October. “It’s such an honor to have built a foundation strong enough that Harley can now be one of those characters that other actors get to have a go at playing. I think she’ll do something incredible with it.”
When it came out, “Joker” was a huge hit at the box office, and it was nominated for 11 Academy Awards. Phoenix was awarded Best Leading Actor and Best Original Score for the film.
Warner Bros. was “on the way” to make a sequel based on the DC villain after the first film made over $1 billion.
The sequel’s specific plot details remain secret, but “Joker: Folie à Deux,” which translates to “Joker: Madness for Two”, is scheduled to be shown in theaters on October 4, 2024.
