The first trailer for the highly anticipated Joker sequel, subtitled Folie à Deux, dropped today during Warner Bros.’ panel at CinemaCon in Las Vegas. The movie comes out on October 4.
Check out the new trailer here:
Todd Phillips returns to co-write (with Scott Silver) and direct the sequel, which has been in development at Warner Bros. for several years. The first movie was envisioned as a stand-alone event, but the box office numbers spoke a different story, and former WB executives listened to it. The project remained in secrecy until Phillips announced it two years ago.
Joaquin Phoenix is returning as the Clown Prince of Crime, with Lady Gaga joining him as his partner in dance, Harley Quinn. The movie is set to be a jukebox musical, featuring 15 reinterpretations of famous songs — and probably some originals as well. This was one of the projects that
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What Does Folie à Deux Mean?
The subtitle of the Joker sequel has been one of the most interesting things about the new movie since it was announced. According to the National Library of Medicine, “Folie à deux is defined as an identical or similar mental disorder affecting two or more individuals, usually the members of a close family.” Or, as Wikipedia puts it, it’s simply a case of shared psychosis.
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It clearly is a reference to an abnormal and shared state of mind between Joker and Harley Quinn. The first movie was a cry for help for mental health patients in the US, whose conditions have been getting worse over the years as society continues to leave them aside. It was left open-ended with the question in the air of whether the Joker was a figment of Arkham Asylum patient Arthur Fleck’s imagination, or something that actually happened.
Joker and Warner Bros. At CinemaCon
Representatives for the Warner Bros. must have been received as kings at CinemaCon, the Las Vegas convention for exhibitors. The last three movies his company released have essentially kept the business afloat. Wonka and Dune: Part Two have both surpassed $600M worldwide, which seemed unreachable to many analysts going in. Then, Godzilla x Kong smashed all expectations and has roared so far to $360M worldwide, and counting.
Their immediate future is a little more uncertain. The studio is bringing their two summer movies, Furiosa and Horizon, to the Cannes Film Festival. The former is considered a bit of a risk, despite how beloved its predecessor in the Mad Max saga was, as Fury Road didn’t make a big splash at the box office. The latter is essentially considered DOA.
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But they will be back with a vengeance in the fall, with both Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Joker: Folie à Deux. The studio has high hopes for the sequel to the 2019 unexpected blockbuster, and will probably try to position Phillips, Phoenix, and Gaga for massive Oscar campaigns this fall. The first movie already earned a Best Actor statue for Phoenix.
They significantly raised the budget cap on the sequel, including nice pay packages for the lead creatives, so the profit margins will be narrower. But the studio is still expecting a big hit, and Lady Gaga’s global pull will certainly help. Still, there must be some hesitation about the musical aspects to it — although the studio was probably very happy to see that this wasn’t a concern for people to check out Wonka.
So far, they are following a similar viral marketing strategy to the one they used in 2019, with plenty of behind-the-scenes photos from Phillips and official social media channels, and a trailer around April to play in front of summer movies.
About Joker: Folie à Deux
Release date: October 4, 2024
Director: Todd Phillips
Writers: Todd Phillips and Scott Silver
Production and Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures
Cinematographer: Lawrence Sher
Production: Warner Bros. Pictures, DC Studios
Distribution: Warner Bros. Pictures
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Zazie Beetz, Brendan Gleeson, Harry Lawtey, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland
What did you think of the first trailer for Joker: Folie à Deux? Did it meet your expectations? The first trailer for the first Joker had raised the bar significantly for that movie. Did this do the same to you? Let us know your thoughts on our Twitter and our Discord server!
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