Joaquin Phoenix Is Shaky on Joker Becoming a Film Trilogy

Joker: Folie à Deux, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga arsenic the clown prince of transgression and Harley Quinn, is inching ever closer to its theatrical release. While its stars are inactive coming to presumption with whether their philharmonic sequel is successful information a musical, Phoenix is harboring reservations implicit whether helium and manager Todd Phillips person it successful them to marque it a trilogy.

In a caller interrogation with IGN, Phillips and screenwriter Scott Silver reflected connected however Joker 2 came together. As Phillips recalls, helium and Phoenix fell successful emotion with what they created with Arthur Fleck and rapidly began joking astir wherever the character’s misadventures could proceed astir the 30-day people of the archetypal film’s 55-day shoot. As IGN notes, Phoenix is mostly opposed to making sequels, truthful making Joker 2 came with its just stock of caveats.

“There was nary mode Joaquin was going to bash thing with the fig 2 aft it, adjacent if you accidental ‘à Deux,’ unless it was an wholly antithetic and risky [thing] and benignant of swinging for the fences. So that benignant of led the charge,” Phillips told IGN. “I mean, we weren’t going to spell and conscionable constitute an expected sequel. Oh, that feline who’s lasting connected the bull car is present moving a transgression syndicate successful Gotham. Not lone would I not truly needfully person that interest, but there’s nary mode Joaquin’s making that movie due to the fact that helium knows that wasn’t truly Arthur Fleck, the Arthur Fleck that we each created.”

“He virtually said to me, ‘I’m not going to bash this unless I’m arsenic frightened arsenic I was connected the archetypal one.’ He was petrified connected the archetypal movie the mode you privation an histrion to be,” Phillips continued. “We benignant of wrote a publication that would benignant of springiness him that feeling.”

Somewhere on their back-and-forth implicit Joker 2, Phillips recounted Phoenix suggesting they “do this connected Broadway oregon something.”

“He had this vision, and again, 50 to 80% of it was america conscionable fucking astir joking. And that’s benignant of the originative process. And past I’ll telephone Scott and go, ‘What bash you deliberation astir that?’ And we conscionable bounce astir ideas. That’s conscionable benignant of however everybody works,” Phillips said.

Critics person mixed feelings astir whether Phillip’s sophomore effort with Phoenix’s Joker was worthy each the effort. One reappraisal went truthful acold arsenic to accidental the movie committed the cardinal misdeed of wasting Lady Gaga’s talents. When asked at Joker 2‘s authoritative Venice property conference whether it was successful the cards to marque a 3rd Joker film, Phillips near things up successful the air.

“I don’t privation to talk for Joaquin, but for me, the communicative of Arthur/Joker has been told,” Phillips said, according to Vulture. “I can’t accidental yes oregon no, but it’s not needfully my extremity to enactment successful this space.”

Should the fearfulness of disappointing critics and audiences not beryllium capable to propulsion Phoenix’s emotion of Arthur into venturing into a 3rd Joker film, Phillips could ever spell the atomic way of dangling a cheery romance storyline implicit his head. If you know, you know.

Joker: Folie à Deux opens successful theaters connected October 4th.

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