Following on from the recent full trailer and today's covers, Empire has shared two new images from Todd Phillips' Joker: Folie À Deux, giving us another look at Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck alongside Lady Gaga, who will play this movie's take on Harley Quinn, "Lee."
Phoenix never seemed particularly interested in reprising his role for a sequel to Joker in interviews around the time of the movie's release, so what ultimately convinced him to return? It seems the script taking some unexpected turns and the ideas it presented feeling "dangerous" were the declining factors.
“It’s the only way that I can do any movie,” the actor explains. “If it doesn’t feel like it’s dangerous, if there’s not a good chance that you’re gonna fail spectacularly, then... what’s the point?”
“That was literally the reason to do it,” adds Phillips. “The only reason Joaquin would even do a sequel is if it felt frightening to him. One thing he really got off on on the first movie was this fear, every day, this nauseous fear of like, ‘What are we [frick]ing doing?’ He did not want it to be easy. And he wanted to feel as scared on this one. He goes, ‘Well, if I’m gonna do it, I just want to feel that it could not work.”
Have a look at the stills below, along with the recently-released trailer.
“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."
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 remains 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). 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.