Joaquin Phoenix & Todd Phillips in talks for sequel of Joker: Folie A Deux

From acclaimed writer/director/producer Todd Phillips comes “Joker: Folie À Deux,” the much-anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Academy Award-winning “Joker,” which earned more than $1 billion at the global box office and was until recently the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time. The new film stars Joaquin Phoenix once again in his Oscar-winning dual role as Arthur Fleck/Joker, opposite Oscar winner Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”).

“Joker: Folie À Deux” finds Arthur Fleck institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that's always been inside him. The film also stars Oscar nominees Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) and Catherine Keener (“Get Out,” “Capote”), alongside Zazie Beetz, reprising her role from “Joker.”

Ask Phillips about his early conversations with Joaquin Phoenix about preparing himself to be in Arthur’s frame of mind and physical state again and he says, "It wasn't like I was first seeing him when that door opened, obviously, because I'd spent months with him before getting there. But he's the most dedicated actor you can ever work with, so we talked early on in the process about losing the weight again. And I said, ‘Well, there's a version where Arthur doesn't have to be as skinny as he was in the first movie, you know, there’s medication and they don't exercise there, he doesn't walk up the stairs any more, he's been locked up.’ I can make an argument that he's not as skinny. And Joaquin's like, ‘No, no, no, absolutely’; in fact, he wanted to be skinnier.”

Talking about when—and why—the idea of the sequel to “Joker” came about, Phoenix says, "Todd and I started talking about finding a new story to tell with the character maybe midway through the shoot of the first one, long before its release. It was something that, even then, I think we both felt like there was more to explore with the character. And I loved the idea and the challenge of continuing the story but finding different tones to play with.”

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A Joint Effort Production, A Film by Todd Phillips, “Joker: Folie À Deux.” The film will be released worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, and will be only in Cinemas in India on Wednesday, October 2, 2024 and in IMAX screens on October 4, in English version Only.