Following Warner Bros.' merger with Discovery, the sequel to Todd Phillips' Joker, Joker: Folie á Deux, remains the only DC film that has been officially greenlit by the studio.
According to Variety, Folie á Deux is the only surefire future Warner. Bros Discovery DC film -- though Matt Reeves' Batman sequel is almost guaranteed to get the go-ahead. The Joker sequel is set to see Joaquin Phoenix reprise his role as the titular character, while Lady Gaga will reportedly join him as Harley Quinn.
While the studio's quick green-lighting of the Joker sequel is based largely on the film's $1 billion dollar-grossing, Oscar-winning success, fans should expect to see some major changes in the new film. Folie á Deux is going to be a musical, which actor Zazie Beetz, who played Sophie Dumond in the original, thinks is a great idea. "I actually think it makes wonderful sense," she said. "I wasn't really surprised by that. Todd [Phillips] has always had a creative approach to the [Joker]." She continued, "I love musicals, and I think of them as the characters are feeling and experiencing so much that they can only sing and dance about it, whether in sorrow or in joy."
Another major difference between Folie á Deux and Joker is that the sequel will be set largely in the Arkham Asylum, according to an insider. The institution is featured in Joker when Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) shows up in search of his mother's medical file. The movie remains a beacon of hope for Warner Bros.' current state of tumult, which started in early August when fans were shocked when Batgirl was canceled after it had already been shot. One insider said that the studios axed the film because they believed "an unspeakable Batgirl is going to be irredeemable." But studio insiders denied this claim, insisting "the decision was not driven by the quality of the film or the commitment of the filmmakers, but by the desire for the studio’s slate of DC features to be at a blockbuster scale."
After news of Batgirl's cancelation broke, the DC Extended Universe delays kept on coming, most recently pushing back release dates for the sequel Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, which was pushed from March 17, 2023 to Dec. 25, 2023, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods, which was moved from Dec. 21, 2022 to March 17, 2023.
Joker: Folie á Deux is set to begin production in December 2022, and will hit theaters on Oct. 4, 2024.
Source: Variety