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The trailer for “Joker: Folie à Deux” (2024) was released, revealing a sequel to the successful 2019 film and a musical featuring Arthur Fleck and Harley Quinn. Directed by Todd Phillips, it explores love and reality in Fleck’s twisted world. The visual storytelling promises a captivating cinematic experience. Set for release on October 4, 2024.
“Sequel to the film “Joker” from 2019.”
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Scott Silver, Todd Phillips, Bob Kane, Paul Kini, Bill FInger, Bruce Timm, Jerry Robinson
Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Zazie Beetz
Release Date: October 4, 2024
IMDB
The trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux (2024) was released last week. We have our first look at Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix’s sequel to the divisive but all-be-it successful 2019 R-rated hit, Joker.
Before diving into Joker: Folie à Deux, it’s worth quickly revisiting the original outstanding success of the clown of crime. At the 2020 Academy Awards, Joker was nominated for 11 Oscars, and took home two wins. Phoenix won his first Academy Award for his portrayal of the deranged man Arthur Fleck, and Hildur Guðnadóttir walked onto the stage to accept the award for Best Original Score.
A dark, brooding, depressing movie like Joker is usually pinned as a critical darling and a public disappointment. Somehow, Joker bucked that trend. Joker was the first R-rated movie in the history of cinema to make over one billion dollars worldwide. A movie about a deranged failing comedian slipping to madness ranked ninth in total box office for 2019. Just an outrageous achievement.
Todd Phillips, the man who made his name with The Hangover franchise, earned three Oscar nominations for Joker. Now, five years later, Phillips is teaming up with Phoenix and company to bring a new story of Arthur Fleck. This time around, Fleck finds his partner in crime. He finds Harley Quinn.
In Joker, Arthur thought that he had a possible romantic friendship with his neighbor Sophie Dumond (Zazie Beetz). This turned out to be a hallucination of his subconscious. This time around, Arthur is going to find his person, and that person is none other than Harley Quinn.
Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix. 10 years ago, would anyone have been able to predict that they’d be starring next to each other in one of the most anticipated sequels of the year? If you are saying you knew this would happen, then you are lying.
The casting of Lady Gaga is extra fascinating because Joker: Folie à Deux is a musical.That’s right, there are going to be songs! And Dancing! When this genre twist was first announced, it’s safe to say that the public was a tad bit confused. However, if you rewatch Joker, you’ll be shocked at how important rhythm plays a part. The two most rewatched scenes from Joker are Fleck dancing down the steps, and Fleck metamorphosing into his new identity in the bathroom.
Now with Joker: Folie à Deux, music isn’t going to be something lying underneath the surface for the audience to pick up. Instead, music is going to be at the forefront. One of the first moments in the trailer has a voiceover talking about how music is made to make people whole and fill the fractures. Safe to say that Arthur Fleck has a few holes in his psyche that could be spackled. He has so many that even if he danced his heart away, every day, he would still like Humpty Dumpty on a balance beam. Fleck needs someone there to keep him steady. He needs a partner in crime.
Joker: Folie à Deux is going to ask the audience what’s real, and what’s not. Who can you trust in a movie whose main character is a crazed mentally ill individual? And that was before he found his missing piece. Love blinds people to the outside world at times, so Arthur’s sense of reality is about to become even more abstract.
Visually, Todd Phillips is in his bag. Some of the visuals in this trailer are proof that a movie is a visual medium.
My brain is all over the place with this trailer. Before wrapping up this stream of consciousness, I just have to ask you a final question.
What is Joker: Folie à Deux going to be about? Joker, boiled down to its simplest form, is an origin story. What’s Joker: Folie à Deux going to follow? My gut reaction is that Joker: Folie à Deux is going to be a love story, and a really fucked up one at that.
Joker: Folie à Deux releases into theaters on October 4, 2024.
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