It’s Joker: Folie à Deux day here on the Lido, with director Todd Phillips and stars Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga in town for the world premiere of Warner Bros/DC’s crime drama with musical flourishes. Before that, Philipps, Joker Best Actor Oscar winner Phoenix, and Gaga fielded questions from the press who had attended a packed show this morning.
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The trio were in a playful mood, particularly Phoenix, who repeatedly turned down the invitation to answer questions. Joker: Folie À Deux is Phillips’ return to the Lido after clinching the festival Golden Lion with the first film in 2019.
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Phillips said this morning that it feels “right and correct” to be in Venice with the sequel.
“It felt like the logical launching point for this second film. We have a very strong feeling with Venice and what happened last time,” Phillips said.
However, Phillips said he carries more nerves debuting the sequel on the Lido.
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“I would say on this one I’m more nervous. There are a lot more expectations on a second film. There’s more nervousness.”
Phillips’ “dystopian musical” charts how failed comedian Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) meets the love of his life, Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), while in Arkham State Hospital. Upon release, the pair embark on a doomed romantic misadventure. The official synopsis reads: J oker: Folie à Deu x finds Arthur Fleck institutionalized at Arkham, awaiting trial for his crimes as the Joker. While grappling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love but discovers the music that has always been within him. Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, and Harry Lawtey also star with Zazie Beetz returning as Sophie from the first film.
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Phoenix told press in the room that he and Lady Gaga, who was referred to by her legal name Stefani, insisted that the pair sing live on set during musical scenes.
“Stefani said early on that we’re singing live and I said no we’re not,” Phoenix said. “And then we did. Not only did we sing live, but every part of the recording was live. Each take was a different version of the song and that felt really exciting.”
Phillips added that the idea to make music a prominent part of his sequel was something he discussed with Phoenix on the set of the first film.
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“If you remember the first film Arthur has a musicality to him. He is often dancing to express the way he feels. And Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score is almost a character in the first film,” Phillips said. “So when it started taking shape with actual music elements we thought what if we got Lady Gaga who actually brings music with her.”
One of the most discussed parts of the sequel this morning was Phoenix’s weightloss for the role, which he said was more difficult this time around due to the dance elements in the sequel.
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“I’m not going to talk through specifics of the diet, but this time it felt a bit more complicated just because there was so much dance rehearsal that we were doing, which I didn’t have last time,” he said. “I’m now 49, I probably shouldn’t do this again. This is probably it for me.”
Gaga takes on the role of Harley Quinn, which had been portrayed by Margot Robbie in films like Suicide Squad (2016), Birds of Prey (2020), and The Suicide Squad (2021). The singer-turned-actress, who was nominated for an Oscar in 2019 for Bradley Cooper’s A Star Is Born, said she wouldn’t actually describe Joker: Folie À Deux as a musical. “It’s very different,” she said.
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“The music is a way to give the characters a way to express themselves because the dialogue wasn’t enough,” she added.
Discussing why she decided to board the project, Gaga said she was “really deeply” moved by Phillips’ first Joker .
“Joaquin’s performance set the bar extremely high. And I think sometimes when stories are told of people who are misunderstood by society, the actors and director can show you something unknown to you. And with Joker I felt I got to understand and see something I never understood before,” she said.
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Elsewhere during the presser, Phoenix was asked a rogue question about his recent dramatic departure from a gay romance movie directed by Todd Haynes. Phoenix reportedly stormed off the set of Haynes’ movie weeks before it was set to begin production in Guadalajara, Mexico, and producers have since been trying to put the project back together before the production completely died. Local crew members are due money.
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The movie was set to star Phoenix and Danny Ramirez ( Top Gun: Maverick ) as two men in the 1930s who develop an intense romantic relationship and leave Los Angeles for Mexico. Christine Vachon was producing the pic alongside Pam Koffler.
Phoenix declined to answer the question on his departure, saying: “If I do, I’d just be sharing my opinion from my perspective and the other creatives aren’t here to share their piece so I don’t think that would be helpful. So I won’t.”
The first Joker scored 11 Oscar nominations back in 2019 — two of which it converted to wins. It grossed $1.079B worldwide, becoming the first R-rated movie ever to cross the $1B benchmark, and the biggest R-rated film of all time at the time (it was only recently unseated by Deadpool & Wolverine ). Venice head Alberto Barbera described the sequel to us in a pre-fest interview as “one of the most daring, brave and creative films in recent American cinema.” When asked whether he would consider directing a third film Joker film or continuing to work in the DC universe, Phillips jokingly replied “Did you see the movie?”
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He added: “No, I think for me, the story of Arthur/Joker has been told with this film. As far as continuing in this space, as a filmmaker, probably not. But everything I do is dictated by actors. What actor could I work with, who am I dying to work with? Clearly these films have been built around Joaquin and then we introduced Gaga. So I can’t say yes or no but I can’t really say it’s my goal to stay in this space.”
The film releases overseas on October 2 and domestically on October 4.
Venice ends on Saturday.
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