Todd Philips Reveals Scrapped Plans for JOKER Stage Musical

A new Variety feature with Joker: Folie à Deux director Todd Philips has shed new light on the highly anticipated musical film starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga. Prior to the development of the sequel to the 2019 film, Philips and Phoenix had discussed the possibility of bringing their Joker concept to Broadway. The idea was inspired by a dream Phoenix had during the filming of the first movie.

“When we started really thinking about it, we realized it takes four years to put something like that together. And is Joaquin really going to give six months of his life to do that every night onstage? Then we thought about doing it at the Carlyle as sort of a smaller thing. But COVID hit," Philips told Variety.

Though it won't be seen on the stage, the concept of a theatrical, singing Joker will be made manifest onscreen. As previously reported, the upcoming movie heavily features musical sequences reminiscent of classic MGM musicals. Get Happy,” “For Once in My Life” and “That’s Life" are among the songs confirmed to be featured in the movie. However, the director clarified that the film isn't a traditional musical. 

“Most of the music in the movie is really just dialogue. It’s just Arthur [Joker] not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead," Phillips noted.

In the Batman canon, Harley Quinn (Gaga) begins her journey as Dr. Harleen Quinzel, an Arkham Asylum therapist who falls in love with Joker and joins him as his oft-abused love interest and villainous sidekick. The 2019 film left the film's central character, Arthur Fleck/Joker in the Arkham State Hospital.

In the new film, Phoenix and Gaga sang live on set, a departure from the usual practice of lip-syncing to pre-recorded tracks. The decision came from the goal of authenticity, allowing the performers to make acting and musical choices in the moment. 

Pheonix, who is not a trained singer, said “It was important to me that we never perform the songs as one typically does in a musical. We didn’t want vibrato and perfect notes.” Instead, the goal was to do something “nerve-racking but honest.” 

Read the full article at Variety.

In addition to Lady Gaga and Joaquin Phoenix, the cast of the film features Emmy nominee Zazie Beetz, and Oscar nominees Catherine Keener and Brendan Gleeson. 

Joker: Folie à Deux will be released in theaters on October 4. Watch the trailer below: