It's been five years since DC's Joker film swept the box office and became the highest-grossing rated-R movie of all time and even had Joaquin Phoenix take home the Best Actor at the Academy Awards. Now Arthur Fleck, this universe's Joker, is a high-profile resident of Arkham Asylum and comes across therapist Harleen Quinzel (Lady Gaga). We got our first look at the feature back in April, but we go all out with the bad romance here.
The trailer shows a musical mayhem murder tour as the couple falls in love and experiences shared delusions. Harleen slowly loses her own grip on reality and becomes the Joker's lover and accomplice. Since his murder of talk show host Murray Franklin, Fleck/Joker has been put on a pillar by those who consider themselves disenfranchised, with some of the movie centering around his trial. Check it out below.
Director Todd Phillips is returning as well as co-writing and producing the film. The sequel was officially announced in 2022, after a few years of Phillips saying he had no intention of developing one, but once the box office hit, it almost became inevitable. The first Joker film was intended as a standalone feature outside of the then DCEU, and used to launch DC Black. That label was rebranded DC Elseworlds under the DC Studios banner.
The first film's budget was reportedly somewhere in the $50-70 million range, but with the sequel, it's expanded to an estimated $200 million, which might explain the elaborate dance and musical numbers.
Also returning is Zazie Beetz who reprises her role from the previous film as Arthur's neighbor, as well as Leigh Gill and Sharon Washington returning as clown co-worker Gary and Arthur's social worker, respectively. Meanwhile, Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, Steve Coogan, Ken Leung, and Harry Lawtey have been cast in unannounced roles.
Joker: Folie à Deux is scheduled to hit theaters on October 2, with its international release, and October 4 for the United States.
