Todd Phillips’ ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ Earns 12-Minute Ovation At Venice Film Festival
Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to his 2019 Golden Lion winner Joker, just had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival — dancing away with a 12? minute ovation.
Accompanying Phillips at the screening of the Warner Bros./DC film were stars Joaquin Phoenix, who won the Best Actor Oscar for his turn in the first film, and Lady Gaga.
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The audience applauded, along with the sounds of “Brava”, whistling and chants for stars “Gaga” and “Joaquin” echoing throughout the theatre.
Gaga waved to the crowd as the warm applause continued. Phoenix exited the stage first, and Gaga stayed with Phillips for an extra minute or so.
The crime drama with musical flourishes finds Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) institutionalized at Arkham State Hospital, awaiting trial for his crimes as the Joker. While grappling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love in Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), 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.
Earlier in the day, Philipps, Phoenix and Gaga discussed Joker 2 with the press. Phillips said this afternoon that it feels “right and correct” to be in Venice with the sequel, but he admitted to more jitters this time around. “There are a lot more expectations on a second film. There’s more nervousness.”
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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. “If you remember the first film, Arthur has a musicality to him. He is often dancing to express the way he feels. And Hildur Guenadóttir’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.”
Gaga noted she wouldn’t actually describe Joker: Folie à Deux as a musical. “It’s very different… The music is a way to give the characters a way to express themselves because the dialogue wasn’t enough.”
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The previous film had moved her, Gaga explained. “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… With Joker, I felt I got to understand and see something I never understood before.”
The original Joker rocked the Lido back in 2019, going on to scoop the Golden Lion before garnering 11 Oscar nominations — 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 (it was only recently unseated by Deadpool & Wolverine).
Joker: Folie à Deux begins international release on October 2 and goes domestically on October4.
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