Director of Joker sequel addresses rumours it will be a musical
The director of Joker: Folie à Deux says music will be an “essential element” amid rumours that it will be a musical.
Todd Phillips has finally addressed rumours among fans that the sequel will be music-based after a newly released trailer showed several shots where Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker, Arthur Fleck, and Harley Quinn, played by singer and actress Lady Gaga, are seen dancing and singing.
They perform together in one scene and are shown dancing on a rooftop in another, with the tagline: “The world is a stage.”
Questioned about the growing speculation that it is a musical, Phillips, who also directed the original, told reporters in Las Vegas: “We never really talked about it like that, but I like to say it’s a film where music is an essential element.
“To me, that doesn’t veer too far from the first film.”
In the interview, quoted by Entertainment Weekly, he insisted that it would “make sense” to fans when they watch the DC Studios film.
“Arthur [Fleck]’s weird and aloof and all these things, but he has music in him. He has a grace to him,” said Phillips.
“That informed a lot of the dancing in the first film. It didn’t feel like that big of a step here. It’s different, but I think it’ll make sense when you see it.”
Fans will make of that what they will, but the fact that Lady Gaga, one of the most popular singers of her generation, stars in the sequel has further raised suspicions that it is, indeed, a musical.
Variety previously reported that the movie resembles “mostly a jukebox musical” with at least 15 reinterpretations of “very well-known” songs, including That’s Entertainment from the 1953 musical The Band Wagon.
The first film in 2019 follows how Fleck kills his deceitful mother and takes on the identity of the Joker after losing his job as a stand-up comedian and clown and being bullied.
In the trailer for the sequel, Fleck continues his life of crime in the fictional Gotham City, alongside Quinn, having seemingly met on a psychiatric ward.
Phoenix won an Oscar for his performance in Joker, which grossed more than $1 billion (£790,000) at the box office.
While the exact plot line is yet to be revealed, the new film is due to be released on Oct 4.
