Prior to the massive success of Joker in 2019, Joaquin Phoenix had visions of returning to play Arthur Fleck, but in a completely different format.
What was the Joker Broadway show going to be about?
Speaking to Variety, director Todd Phillips and Phoenix recalled how, shortly before production wrapped on Joker, Phoenix told Phillips that he had a dream about performing as Fleck onstage, telling jokes and singing like Fleck dreamed of doing in the 2019 movie.
“Todd was in the wings talking to me through a headset,” Phoenix recalled. “I woke up feeling elated and called him, hoping he’d want to do a show with me.”
That dream led the pair to think about how to continue the story of Fleck on the Broadway stage. However, Phillips soon realized that wasn’t practical and would require way too much time, 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 six months of his life to do that every night onstage,” Phillips says. “Then we thought about doing it at the Carlyle as sort of a smaller thing. But COVID hit.”
The concept itself still lingered, though, and is partly what led to the upcoming Joker: Folie à Deux being what it is now, a musical sequel all about Fleck’s romance with Harleen “Lee” Quinzel (played by Lady Gaga).
“Why do something if it doesn’t scare the s— out of 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 is set to release in theaters on October 4, 2024.
(Source: Variety)
