Principal photography is officially underway on the sequel to Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar-winning Joker. Saturday, filmmaker Todd Phillips confirmed the news through a post on his Instagram page. In the post, Phoenix could be seen in character getting a shave, presumably from one of the workers from the asylum the character was taken to at the end of the first film.
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“Day 1. Our boy,” Phillips shared alongside the picture. Phillips’ most recent Instagram posts all have something to do with Joker 2, or Joker: Folie รก Deux, as it is officially named. The director officially announced the sequel through the social network earlier this year, sharing an image of the script bearing the film’s name alongside another snapshot of Phoenix reading through the screenplay for the sequel.
Come August, Phillips then shared a teaser with the film’s release date, also confirming Lady Gaga is set to appear in this film as iconic DC antihero Harley Quinn.
It will be the second time Quinn has appeared in live-action, having been played by Margot Robbie on two separate occasions. Given newly minted DC Studios head James Gunn has confirmed Robbie will be back as the villain in the future, the actor has said she fully supports Gaga taking a chance at playing the character.
“It makes me so happy because I said from the very beginning that all I want is for Harley Quinn to be one of those characters, the way Macbeth or Batman, always gets passed from great actor to great actor,” Robbie explained. “It’s kind of like someone gets to do their Batman, or someone gets to do their Macbeth. I feel like, in not so many cases, are they female characters โ Queen Elizabeth I, but beyond that, which I got to have a crack out as well, which I was honored to do. I was like, ‘Wow! Cate Blanchett did Queen Elizabeth I. Now I get to.’ It’s such an honor to have built a foundation strong enough that Harley can now be one of those characters that other actors get to have a go at playing. And I think she’ll do something incredible with it.”
Joker: Folie a Deuxย is set to be released in theaters on October 4, 2024.