Todd Phillips Talks Joker: Folie à Deux in New Interview
In a new interview, Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Phillips discusses his daring approach to the story of the Joker and Harley Quinn in the upcoming film.
Not only was 2019’s Joker a major box office hit, grossing over $1 billion worldwide, but it also shifted the landscape of what comic book adaptations could look like with its incredibly realistic, gritty version of the Joker. In a new interview with Variety, Phillips promises to break even more boundaries with the highly anticipated sequel. “The goal of this movie is to make it feel like it was made by crazy people,” the “Road Trip” director states. “The inmates are running the asylum.”
Let’s give the people what they want. Joker: Folie à Deux – only in theaters and @imax, October 4. #JokerMovie #FilmedForIMAX pic.twitter.com/DWPkTHmpO6
— Joker Movie (@jokermovie) August 19, 2024
Lady Gaga on set of ‘JOKER: FOLIE À DEUX’ pic.twitter.com/U7VAPbSAPp
— Lady Gaga Updates (@LGTourNews) August 20, 2024
At first, Phillips and Joker star Joaquin Phoenix planned to make a Broadway adaptation of the first film. Though the two soon deduced that the stage play approach would be impractical, the theatrical, musical element of this idea remained.
The new film will reportedly feature several musical numbers between the Joker and Harleen “Lee” Quinzel, portrayed by Lady Gaga. These numbers symbolize the characters’ descent into madness as the Joker stands on trial for the murder of five people.
“We asked ourselves what would need to be true for two people to just break into song in the middle of a conversation?” Gaga recalls crafting musical scenes. “Where does the music come from when no one can hear it but the characters? Neither Arthur nor Lee are professional singers, and they shouldn’t sound like they are.”
Phillips explains that, while there are strong musical elements in the sequel film, it is by no means a traditional musical. “It was important to me that we never perform the songs as one typically does in a musical,” he expresses. “We didn’t want vibrato and perfect notes…so much of it is about feeling the moment as you do it.”
The director also describes his unique take on the character of Harley Quinn, who will appear much more grounded in the new film as she is in the comics. “The high voice, that accent, the gum-chewing, and all that sort of sassy stuff that’s in the comics, we stripped that away,” Phillips reveals. “We wanted her to fit into this world of Gotham that we created from the first movie.”
die with a smile AND joker: folie a deux coming for GLOBAL domination THIS 2024: pic.twitter.com/DJYLFakYWQ
— (@youdogermanote) August 20, 2024
Joker: Folie à Deux hits theaters on October 4. Readers can watch the trailer below.
