Before the massive success of Joker In 2019, Joaquin Phoenix I had visions of playing Arthur Fleck again, but in a completely different format.
What would the Joker show on Broadway be about?
Speaking to Variety, director Todd Phillips and Phoenix recalled how, shortly before production on Joker wrapped, Phoenix told Phillips that he'd had a dream about performing like Fleck on stage, telling jokes and singing the way Fleck dreamed of doing in the 2019 film.
“Todd was backstage talking to me through a headset,” Phoenix recalls. “I woke up feeling really excited and called him up hoping he’d want to do a show with me.”
That dream led the pair to think about how to continue Fleck’s story on the Broadway stage. However, Phillips soon realized that it was impractical and would be too time-consuming — and that was before the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
“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 up six months of his life to do that every night on stage?” Phillips says. “So we thought about doing it at the Carlyle as a smaller thing. But then COVID hit.”
However, the concept itself still persists and is partly what led to the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux being what it is now, a musical sequel about Fleck's romance with Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (played by Lady Gaga).
“Why do something if it doesn’t scare you?” Phillips asks. “I’m addicted to risk. I mean, it keeps you up at night. It makes your hair fall out. But it’s the sweat that keeps you going.”
Joker: Folie à Deux will be released in theaters on October 4, 2024.
(Fountain: Variety)