Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros/Alamy
Topics: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, DC Comics
Simon Catling
Lady Gaga could be cast in Joker 2, with the legendary pop star turned actor reportedly in early talk to star opposite Joaquin Phoenix in the follow-up to the 2019 Oscar-winning smash.
That's not all either - the follow-up could be a musical, if reports are to be believed.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the House of Gucci star is in discussions to play Harley Quinn, The Joker's psychiatrist at the Arkham Asylum psychiatric institute who falls in love with him and becomes his sidekick and partner in crime.
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It's believed that Gaga's version of Quinn would exist in a different DC universe than Margot Robbie's take on the character, who appeared as recently as last year in The Suicide Squad, as well as several other films.
Director Todd Phillips does have previous form with Lady Gaga too, having been the producer on romantic musical drama A Star Is Born which starred the singer alongside Bradley Cooper in 2018.
Phillips has apparently been co-writing the script with Joker co-writer Scott Silver for some time.
He finally showed it to Warner Bros last week, before revealing on social media the title of the new project — Joker: Folie à deux.
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Its title is a reference of a medical term for an identical or similar mental disorder that affects two or more individuals, usually members of the same family.
The social media post also showed a photo of Phoenix reading the script, a perhaps presumptuous move given that the actor’s involvement hasn't actually been legally signed off yet.
The studio are however deep into negotiations to sort out the deal and it'd be a major shock if the 47-year-old did not return given the critical acclaim he received in his last turn as the sadistic villain - culminating in his Academy Award for Best Actor.
The success of the original Joker was something of a surprise to Warner Bros.
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Its dark and moody character piece cut a different tone from many of the current crop of superhero movies and as a result was only budgeted at $60 million with cautious projections over its box office success.
However, come opening weekend and Joker was a record breaker, before eventually ending its theatrical run as the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time.
It then earned 11 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, with Hildur Guðnadóttir winning Best Score alongside Phoenix's Best Actor nod.
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