In just over 24 hours time, we will get the first words on Joker: Folie a Deux. It is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival and, as is traditional, the word will be out moments after that.
Preparing for the big event, and the looming release, director Todd Phillips gave a big interview to Variety and was very clear he has no plans for a third instalment:
“It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world.”
He also revealed more about the movie, including its musical nature. Apparently, it is not as sold. It is not, as the rumors said, a full-on musical.
In the interview, Phillips says they did originally talk about setting up the sequel as an actual, full-on Broadway musical. Then they realized just how difficult it is to stage a musical, the time it would have taken to set up, and then COVID killed the video off completely.
So while the character will sing and dance, it is not a full musical. It will tell the story of Arthur preparing to stand trial for the murders committed in the first movie. Harley Quinn, here called Lee, enters his orbit as part of his time in Arkham Asylum.
As his frayed mind grows even more dangerously untethered, he secretly takes himself off his medication and his mind can then slip into a fantasy world that the director says:
“…plays like the MGM musicals of yesteryear on acid”.
The scale of the singing and dancing?
“I just don’t want people to think that it’s like In the Heights, where the lady in the bodega starts to sing and they take it out onto the street, and the police are dancing.
Phillips also dismissed reports of a $200 million budget.
Joker: Folie a Deux opens in theaters October 4th.