Lady Gaga is in talks with director Todd Phillips to join Joaquin Phoneix in the Joker sequel. Phillips and Scott Silver have been working on the script for the past few years and have finally shown it to the studio. Phillips revealed the project title — Joker: Folie a deux. The title references a medical term for an identical or similar mental disorder that affects two or more individuals, usually members of the same family.
Although there’s a social media post showing Phoenix reading the script, there isn’t any involvement from the actor just yet. That’s where Gaga comes in.
Her character details are hush-hush, but the Joker is known for having an on-off relationship with Harley Quinn. Quinn was his psychiatrist at Arkham Asylum who fell in love with the Joker and became his sidekick.
If a deal goes through then Gaga will play Quinn, however Gaga’s Quinn will be different from Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Robbie has made her Quinn an important figure in the DC Universe with The Suicide Squad and Birds of Prey. What’s more, the sequel is going to be a musical according to sources.
Joker was the No. 4 highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time. It earned 11 Oscar nominations with wins for Best Actor for Phoenix and Best Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir.
Phillips and Gaga worked previously together on A Star is Born in 2018 with Joker producer Bradley Cooper.