Lady Gaga is multi-talented and she's ready to add another installment to her filmography.The "Born This Way" singer will star alongside Joaquin Phoenix in the new film, Joker: Folie à Deux. It is set to be a musical and will be a sequel to the 2019 film which saw Phoenix winning Best Actor at the 92nd Academy Awards. Gaga confirmed her casting by posting a musical teaser video on her Twitter. The video is set to "Cheek to Cheek," which Gaga previously covered with the legendary Tony Bennett. According to the teaser, the film will be released by Warner Bros. on October 4, 2024.
Gaga is rumored to be playing the role of Harley Quinn in this latest film, according to Variety. However, this has not been confirmed and her role isn't mentioned in the teaser. On June 7, director Todd Phillips posted a photo of the screenplay's cover to his Instagram. This revealed the film's subtitle, Folie à Deux, a phrase referring to a shared delusional disorder.
Aside from Batman, Harley has been the Joker's only real companion. The character was first created in the early nineties for Batman: The Animated Series.
The character has previously been portrayed by Margot Robbie and Kaley Cuoco. Robbie starred in Suicide Squad in 2016, Birds of Prey in 2020 and The Suicide Squad in 2021. Cuoco voiced Harley Quinn in the HBO Max animated series of the same name. The popular series is currently in its third season.
The previous Joker film grossed just over $1 billion worldwide and became the highest-grossing R-rated movie in history. In addition to it's 11 Academy Award nominations, the film won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. Phoenix not only won Best Actor, but Hildur Guðnadóttir won for original score.
Phoenix has spoken about the fear he says he felt during his speech at the Oscars in 2020.
In an interview with The Sunday Times, the actor said, "I did not want to get up anywhere and do anything. I was not excited about the opportunity. It’s just not who I am. I was full of fear."
He went on to say, "I was in that situation and there was a part of me that just wanted to say, ‘Thanks so much, great, goodnight.’ But I felt like I had to…If I’m up here, I can’t just thank my mum."
His speech was centered around animal rights, an issue Phoenix is very passionate about.
"We feel entitled to artificially inseminate a cow and when she gives birth we steal her baby, even though her cries of anguish are unmistakable, and then we take her milk that’s intended for her calf and we put it in our coffee and our cereal," Phoenix said during his speech.
Will this latest Joker film be up for any Oscars? Will Phoenix make another nervous walk on stage to accept a second award? Will Gaga finally win the Best Actress trophy she lost with A Star Is Born? Only time will tell.
