Joker (2019) became a cultural phenomenon and billion-dollar box office earner largely off the strength of the film being marketed as an “indie” and/or “prestige” flick, rather than a comic book movie blockbuster. Warner Bros. won’t be able to pull that trick with director Todd Phillips’ upcoming sequel Joker: Folie A Deux, as reports state that the sequel has more than tripled the budgetary cost of the first one.
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The report on Joker 2‘s budget comes embedded in a larger report about Warner Bros. putting up big money to court A-list stars and successful directors into working with the studio to produce high-value premium content. According to Variety’s breakdown, Joker 2‘s $200 million cost comes in large part from franchise star Joaquin Phoenix getting $20 million for the sequel, while his co-star Lady Gaga (who will play the Harley Quinn to Phoenix’s Joker) is getting $12 million. Combined, that’s over half the budget of the first Joker – not to mention all of usual cost increases that come with making a sequel film ‘bigger and better.’
The big sequel budget is now out there – and there are big expectations from both DC fans and the mainstream public who are interested seeing Gaga taking on Harley Quinn after Margot Robbie played the character onscreen. With all those stakes on the table it’s an even bigger risk for Warner Bros. to have gone with a musical format for Joker: Folie A Deux. Musicals are a divisive genre to begin with, and a comic book movie musical – set in the R-rated world of Joker – is a feat no one has seen done before, and therefore, the box office returns really can’t be estimated at this point.
What Is Joker 2 About?
Joker: Folie a Deux will be a musical that follows the twisted romance between Joaquin Phoenix‘s Arthur Fleck / Joker and Gaga’s Harley Quinn. The title is a reference to a psychological condition in which two people who are in close proximity will share a common delusion – usually brought on by the more dominant of the two personalities and bleeding into the psyche of the other person. The disorder is rare, and usually impacts people within extremely close families or sometimes religious groups and romantic couplings. The title itself hints at the likely premise of the movie – and helps validate rumors that a lot of the film will be taking place within iconic Batman location, Arkham Asylum.
The sequel will bring back Zazie Beetz as Arthur Flec/Joker’s neighbor Sophie. New cast members confirmed to appear in Joker 2 include Jacob Lofland (Maze Runner), Brendon Gleeson (Paddington 2) and Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich).
Joker: Folie A Deux has a release date of October 4th.
