Lady Gaga published a brief teaser on Thursday for Joker: Folie à Deux, confirming she will star in Warner Bros.’ sequel to Joker with Joaquin Phoenix. Gaga is rumored to be playing a new version of Harley Quinn, although the teaser doesn’t outright confirm this. The 18-second spot ends with the film’s Oct. 4, 2024 release date and is set to the standard “Cheek to Cheek” sung by Fred Astaire for the 1935 film Top Hat — but also, a song Gaga recorded with Tony Bennett.
The release date for Joker 2 surfaced on Wednesday. It will hit theaters precisely five years after the first film opened in 2019. Joker, directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover) introduced Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, who later becomes the Clown Prince of Crime in a universe set apart from any previous Batman movie. Although Joker was rated R, the movie grossed over $1 billion internationally, inspiring Warner Bros. to greenlight a second film. Phoenix is reportedly earning $20 million for making the sequel.
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Joker became just the second modern comic book-based film nominated for the Best Picture Oscar, coming a year after Black Panther. It scored 11 total nominations, the most ever for a comic book movie, and won Best Actor for Phoenix and Best Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir. Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, and Frances Conroy also starred in the first film.
If Gaga really is playing a new version of Harley Quinn, she will be the second actress to play the character. Margot Robbie played the part in Suicide Squad (2016), Birds of Prey (2020), and The Suicide Squad (2021). Kaley Cuoco voices the character in HBO Max’s critically acclaimed Harley Quinn animated series. Harley Quinn was created by Paul Dini and Bruce Timm for Batman: The Animated Series in 1992 and has quickly become one of DC’s most popular characters. She was introduced into the main Batman comic continuity in 1999.
Although Gaga had small parts in a few movies and played herself in Muppets Most Wanted, she scored her first big role as Ally in Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born. The film earned Gaga an Oscar nomination for acting and an Oscar victory for the song “Shallow.” Last year, she starred in Ridley Scott’s House of Gucci. Gaga has also been attached to a Dionne Warwick biopic as singer Cilla Black for years, but it’s unclear if that project is still in development. Gaga’s most recent film contribution was the song “Hold My Hand” for Top Gun: Maverick.
The news about the Joker sequel comes under the shadow of Warner Bros. Discovery’s recent moves with HBO Max. The company recently canceled Batgirl, which was nearly complete and had a $90 million budget. Warner Bros. Discovery said the decision “reflects our leadership’s strategic shift as it relates to the DC universe and HBO Max,” but it’s also been reported that the studio will take a tax write-down to recoup some of the cost.
