"Joker" director Todd Phillips and actor Joaquin Phoenix have disclosed that the origin of their anticipated sequel, "Joker: Folie à Deux," was initially considered as a vibrant Broadway production with a heavy emphasis on musical elements.
During a recent interview, Phoenix shared how the concept for the movie (featuring Lady Gaga as the notorious antagonist Harley Quinn) first sparked in his mind through a vivid dream.
This dream occurred shortly after he received an Oscar for portraying Arthur Fleck, a struggling comedian who descends into chaos in Gotham City in Phillips' groundbreaking 2019 movie.
Phoenix shared with Variety how he found himself conversing with Todd backstage via a headset.
A Dream that Sparked a Sequel
In this vivid dream, he portrayed Fleck on a theater stage, regaling a live audience in New York City with songs and jokes while dressed in character. The exhilaration lingered upon waking, prompting Phoenix to reach out to Todd, eager to collaborate on a potential show.
"I woke up feeling elated and called him, hoping he'd want to do a show with me."
The publication verified that the actor and the director did indeed talk about adapting the act for Broadway, but unfortunately, their plans were derailed by the unexpected arrival of the coronavirus pandemic.
According to Phillips, "When we started really thinking about it, we realized it takes four years to put something like that together. And is Joaquin really going to give six months of his life to do that every night onstage?"
"Then we thought about doing it at the Carlyle as sort of a smaller thing. But COVID hit."
Fleck and Harley Quinn
Although the initial plan of a stage adaptation never happened, it catalyzed the birth of "Joker: Folie à Deux," a musical sequel that will explore the twisted world of Joker and Harley Quinn at Arkham Asylum, two years after the events of the first movie.
The sequel will dive deep into their connection, showcasing a " variety-show sequence that finds Phoenix and Gaga portraying a homicidal Sonny & Cher," as previewed in the movie's initial trailer released earlier in the year.
The trailer also hinted at musical interludes woven into the movie, illustrating how the characters' musical performances are pivotal in advancing the storyline.
As Phillips said, "The goal of this movie is to make it feel like it was made by crazy people. The inmates are running the asylum."
