Joker: Folie a Deux director Todd Phillips celebrated the end of principal photography on Wednesday by sharing two new photos of the main characters. The film will introduce a new take on Harley Quinn, this time played by Lady Gaga instead of Margot Robbie. Joaquin Phoenix is back to reprise his Oscar-winning role as Arthur Fleck, a frustrated stand-up comedian who became the Joker in the 2019 film.
“That’s a wrap,” Phillips wrote. “Thanks to these two (+ the entire cast) and the BEST crew that the film industry has to offer. From top to bottom. Gonna crawl into a cave now (edit room) and put it all together.” His post included photos of Gaga and Phoenix in full character makeup.
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Phillips, whose other films include The Hangover and Due Date, previously published a photo of Gaga with Phoenix on Valentine’s Day. In that picture, Harley still appeared to be Dr. Harleen Quinzel before her transformation. However, photos from the set leaked in March, showing Gaga in full Harley makeup. Her costume looked very different from the classic Harley jumpsuit introduced in Batman: The Animated Series and Robbie’s costumes in the two Suicide Squad movies and Birds of Prey.
The story for Joker: Folie a Deux remains unknown, but it is expected to be a musical. Phillips wrote the script with Scott Silver. Zazie Beetz is also returning as Sophie Dumond. Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, and Harry Lawtey have undisclosed roles. Bradley Cooper returned to co-produce with Phillips.
Like the 2019 film, Joker: Folie a Deux is set in its own universe, apart from the DC Extended Universe and the next DC cinematic universe being overseen by James Gunn and Peter Safran. It will be released under the “DC Elseworlds” banner, similar to Matt Reeves’ The Batman – Part II, which is also set in its own universe.
Joker was meant to be a one-off movie, but its’ astounding success convinced Warner Bros. to greenlight a sequel. The film became the first R-rated movie to gross over $1 billion and it earned 11 Oscar nominations, the most ever for a movie based on comic book characters. It was nominated for Best Picture, while Phoenix won Best Actor. Hildur Guðnadóttir won Best Original Score and returned for Folie a Deux.The sequel hits theaters on Oct. 4, 2024.
