‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ Is a Musical Sequel to 2019’s Oscar-Winning ‘Joker’

"I like to say it's a film where music is an essential element. To me, that doesn't veer too far from the first film."

Apr. 10 2024, Published 10:24 a.m. ET

If you have been considered one of the millions of people that saw Joker in 2019, you'll have been amazed by way of the performances or the surprising ranking. You may have been shocked by its violent ending or amazed when it wound up profitable Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar. What you most probably weren’t amazed via, although, were the musical numbers.

That’s clearly because the first movie, with one notable exception, wasn't actually a musical in any way, form, or shape. So, believe the confusion when the teaser trailer for the sequel drops and makes it transparent that Joker: Folie a Deux is a full-blown musical. Here’s what we learn about why this is.

Is ‘Joker 2’ a musical?

The sequel to Joker is indeed a musical, and unlike some musicals from the previous few years, its first teaser trailer doesn’t make any effort to hide that truth. While the teaser doesn’t be offering a general picture of what the film’s plot can be, it does give us our first take a look at Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn, who's joining the sequel and who meets the Joker in Arkham Asylum.

The teaser also gives us a sense of just how much of a musical Folie a Deux can be, and the answer appears to be that it's going to move all in, entire with lovely theatrical performances. It turns out that the majority of the songs in the movie can be covers a los angeles Moulin Rouge!, despite the fact that it’s possible that the ones covers may also be mixed and reimagined for the film’s central characters.

‘Joker’ isn’t a musical, so why is the sequel?

According to director Todd Phillips, who was also at the back of the digital camera for the first movie, Folie a Deux’s introduction of the musical isn't a radical departure from the tone of the first film. "We never really talked about it like that, but I like to say it's a film where music is an essential element. To me, that doesn't veer too far from the first film," Todd stated in an interview with Entertainment Weekly.

"Arthur [Fleck]'s weird and aloof and all these things, but he has music in him. He has a grace to him,” Todd said. “That informed a lot of the dancing in the first film... it didn't feel like that big of a step here. It's different, but I think it'll make sense when you see it."

Todd also stated that the determination to forged Lady Gaga in the movie used to be a no-brainer. "We cast Gaga as a result of she's magic. I was a producer on A Star Is Born ... That was the first time I truly met her and were given to watch her work. As we had been penning this script, Scott [Silver], who I wrote it with, stored going again to her,” he explained.

Whether Todd’s giant bet on making a musical will in the end pay off continues to be noticed. For now, despite the fact that, the proven fact that he has made such a pivot to one thing completely new for the sequel no doubt has other folks intrigued about what the ultimate movie will ultimately look like when it’s launched in the fall of 2024.

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