When it was revealed that Joker: Folie à Deux would have elements of a musical, fans weren’t quite sure how far the sequel would lean into that aspect. Well, according to Variety, the film will be “mostly a jukebox musical” as it will include “at least 15 reinterpretations of very well-known songs.“
Insiders tell Variety that one of those songs is said to be “That’s Entertainment” from the 1953 musical The Band Wagon. While it seems that most of the songs will be covers of existing tunes, the door is apparently open for the addition of an original song or two. Who would have thought that Joker: Folie à Deux might be joining the likes of musicals such as Mamma Mia and Moulin Rouge?
The report also states that early discussions are underway for Joker: Folie à Deux to premiere at the Venice International Film Festival later this year, but nothing is official yet. The first movie also premiered at the festival, where it received an eight-minute standing ovation and won the Golden Lion award.
Anticipation for the Joker sequel is high, especially after the first movie received 11 Academy Award nominations and became the first R-rated flick to gross over $1 billion worldwide. Warner Bros. has pumped a lot of money into the sequel, with recent reports stating the budget has grown to nearly $200 million; quite the leap from the $60 million budget of the first movie.
Joker: Folie à Deux features the return of Joaquin Phoenix as the title character. He’s joined by Lady Gaga, who is said to be playing Harley Quinn. The rest of the cast includes Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland, and Harry Lawtey. Zazie Beetz also returned to reprise her role as Sophie Dumond from the first movie, a love interest for Arthur. Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it’s been said that much of the sequel will take place within Arkham Asylum, which is where we left Arthur in the last film. Joker: Folie à Deux will hit theaters on October 4th. Find out everything we know about the movie right here!