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Fans of DC Comics were offered a treat in October, 2019, with Joaquin Phoenix’sJokertaking the world by storm. The movie set the town ablaze (quite literally), with a performance that was so gritty and macabre that many would begin to doubt that it fell in the same genre asAvengers: Endgame.But director Todd Phillips’ gambit paid off. And that seems to have emboldened him to take a greater risk with the sequel – one which could even spell its doom.
Joaquin Phoenix’s dream which changed the shape ofJoker: Folie à Deux
Todd PhillipsandJoaquin Phoenixhad come up with a plan forJoker: Folie à Deuxeven before the first movie had seen the light of day. It all started with theHerstar’s dream. He once had a dream, about Arthur Fleck, telling his story onstage to the world, singing. And Phoenix couldn’t wait to bring that to reality. He would recall,
“Todd was in the wings talking to me through a headset. I woke up feeling elated and called him, hoping he’d want to do a show with me.”
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Anyone who knows theSchool of Scoundrelsdirector knows that he is not one to shy away from taking a risk. Even if it has the very potential to take his project down the drain. No wonder it didn’t take him long to buy into the project.
Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix’s interest meant thatJoker: Folie à Deuxwould be a musical
At the outset, both Phillips and Phoenix knew what they wanted deep down – taking the sequel to Broadway. Plans were chalked out. Timelines were considered. They eventually realized that the plan was wishful thinking at best. No way the 49-year-old would be able to dedicate 6 months of his life to a Broadway play.
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Todd Phillips said,
“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.”
While the latter part of the plan didn’t materialize either, but the concept Phoenix had in mind was there to stay. AndJoker: Folie à Deuxwas born, a superhero musical.
Todd Phillips has no regrets about his decision
As the film is all set to debut at the Venice Film Festival, Todd Phillips has had a lot of time to reflect on his project. And the reflection has meant that he has endured many jittery days at work. But theRoad Tripdirector wouldn’t have it any other way. In a conversation withVariety,he said,
“Why do something if it doesn’t scare the shit out of you? 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.”
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The success ofJokerhad given him the license. And he has exploited it definitely to get his way. He continued,
“The question became, ‘how can we top ourselves?’ And you’re able to only do that if you do something dangerous. But there were days on set where you’d look around and think, ‘Holy fucking shit! What did we do?’”
Smriti Sneh
Articles Published :479
Smriti Sneh is a Content Writer at Fandom Wire specializing in celebrities and everything pop-culture. Being a literature research scholar, she is cashing in on her writing skills by working in the entertainment news sector - studying literary theories by day, and navigating celebrity net worth through the night. Although you can find her writing poems at any and all hours.
