Joaquin Phoenix, Girl Gaga and director Todd Phillips lit up the Lido on the 81st Venice Worldwide Movie Pageant with the world premiere of “Joker: Folie à Deux.”
The sequel to 2019’s Golden Globe-winning “Joker” tackles a mess of genres within the follow-up story of the DC supervillain. The narrative twists and turns, from animation to psychological drama to romance to musical, together with plenty of intricately choreographed musical scenes for the 2 leads.
When requested to debate his stylistic selections for the film on the movie pageant’s official press convention Sept. 4, Phillips defined: “I feel visually and stylistically, (“Joker: Folie à Deux”) exists in the identical world as the primary movie for lots of it after which we escape of it for sure issues. We escape of it with the liberty of Arthur’s creativeness and the place Arthur would take one thing.”
Addressing the musical scenes, the director added: “To me, past having music in him [in the first film], Arthur had a way of romance to him. He had panache and he had fashion, though you didn’t actually see it. What the musical parts on this movie enabled us to do visually is to lean into that fashion. However, once more, to me it’s all knowledgeable via his eyes.”
The choreographed track and dance numbers required months of rehearsals for Golden Globe winners Phoenix and Gaga. “Making ready the waltz within the movie was actually, actually particular,” she revealed. “We rehearsed for a couple of months, and it’s attention-grabbing as a result of it’s a waltz that sort of falls aside. It’s a pleasant expression of this very unusual love between the 2 of them.”
Added Phoenix, “The waltz is a superb instance of what it was like making this film as a result of we rehearsed for a pair months, however then we radically altered your complete choreography 10 days earlier than we shot it. I feel that’s indicative of what the method was like with all the pieces that we had been doing, the place we’d actually work on one thing and choreograph it, however then throw it out.”
Venice was deemed the proper location to launch the Warner Bros. sequel. That is the place “Joker” premiered in 2019 and was awarded the pageant’s Golden Lion earlier than occurring to win two Golden Globes. Nonetheless, Phillips admitted to feeling a bit of extra trepidatious about this second go to with the franchise.
“There are much more expectations on a second movie,” he remarked. “There’s positively a way of extra nervousness than I had with the primary one.”
The unique “Joker” earned greater than $1 billion on the worldwide field workplace. However is the sequel the top of the highway for Phillips’ daring interpretation of those comedian e book characters? Whereas there are not any confirmed plans for extra movies within the franchise, the director hasn’t absolutely dominated out a return to Gotham sooner or later.
“Most likely not,” he defined to the press room. “For me, it’s onerous to say ‘not’. All the things I do is dictated on actors. What actor might I work with? Who am I dying to work with and will I construct one thing round that individual? Clearly these movies have been constructed round Joaquin – after which we launched Gaga. I can’t actually say sure or no, nevertheless it’s not essentially my aim to remain on this area.”
“Joker: Folie à Deux” might be launched in U.S. theaters on Oct. 4, following a global launch on Oct. 2.