After months of speculation and rumours surrounding Joker: Folie à Deux, its director, Todd Phillips, has finally revealed the movie’s genre.
Announced in 2022, Joker: Folie à Deux is slated to be a direct sequel to Joker (2019), which was critically praised for its acting, writing, and cinematography. Lead actor Joaquin Phoenix also won the 2020 Oscar for Best Acting as Arthur Fleck/Joker in the 2019 film. Its first official teaser trailer also dropped on April 10, 2024. Following this, a lot of hype and anticipation is being built for its sequel.
However, fans quickly learned that pop diva Lady Gaga would be taking the mantle of Harley Quinn in Joker: Folie à Deux and that the film would dip into ‘musical’ territory. This stirred much controversy and polarising opinions from people who have waited years for the Joker (2019)’s sequel.
Some say it is only fitting for the movie as Arthur Fleck has always been into music, while others worry that it may stray too far from the grotesque and dark nature of the first film.
Luckily for worried fans, on day two of CinemaCon, director Todd Phillips came forward to answer some of Joker: Folie à Deux's hottest questions.
According to a tweet by Brandon Davis, Phillips said that he and the whole team behind Joker: Folie à Deux have never really talked about the film being a full-on musical. Phillips then mentions that while it won’t be a traditional musical that fans are familiar with, it will still have musical elements.
"We've never really talked about it like that but it's a movie where music is an essential element and, to me, it doesn't veer to[o] far from the first film."
Phillips also reiterated that Arthur Fleck/Joker has always had music in him, which is most likely a reference to the Joker’s dancing scenes in Joker (2019).
"Yeah, Arthur is weird and aloof...but he has music in him," Phillips supposedly told Davis.
Considering all of this information, it is safe to assume that Joker: Folie à Deux will, indeed, be a musical, but not the type of musical that most are familiar with, like La La Land. It will most likely have dancing and singing scenes here and there, but its main focus will still be the dark and serious tone that fans are itching for in a Joker movie.
According to a news report from Variety, the film will most likely be a ‘jukebox musical’ with 15 renditions and covers of well-known songs. However, one or two songs are expected to be written from scratch by either the film’s team or Lady Gaga herself.
This all means that Phillips and Joker: Folie à Deux will attempt to transform what a musical is meant to be. Thanks to Phillips’ comments on these rumours, fans can stay reassured that while Joker: Folie à Deux is a musical, it could still be darker than its predecessor, using the help and potency of music to bring its plot and core message forward.
Joker: Folie à Deux will be dancing into theatres on October 4, 2024.