First Look: Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn Gets Up Close And Personal With Joaquin Phoenix In Joker Sequel

To mark Valentine’s Day, Todd Philips, the director of Joker: Folie à Deux, shared on Instagram a still of Lady Gaga getting cozy with Joaquin Phoenix’s titular failed comedian-turned-criminal.

“Happy Valentines Day,” Philip captioned the photo, which was also shared by Gaga on her socials.

It’s widely reported that Gaga is playing a version of DC Comics character Harley Quinn, a psychiatrist who hooks up with the Joker, becoming Bonnie to his Clyde. Margot Robbie previously played Quinn in two Suicide Squad movies as well as her own spin-off, 2020’s Birds of Prey.

Filming on Joker: Folie à Deux, which has been described as a musical, started in December. Other cast members include Zazie Beetz, Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener.

With global earnings of more than US$1 billion (S$1.33 bil), the original Joker, released in 2019, was the highest-grossing R-rated film in history. It was nominated for 11 Oscars, including Best Picture, winning Best Actor for Phoenix and Best Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir.

Gaga is up for a Best Original Song Oscar next month for ‘Hold My Hand’, from Top Gun: Maverick.

Alongside Matt Reeves’ The Batman Part II, with Robert Pattinson back as The Dark Knight, Joker: Folie à Deux falls under ‘DC Elseworlds’ banner, where the titles have no narrative connections to the main DC Universe revealed by DC Studios co-CEO and chairmen James Gunn and Peter Safran in January.

Joker: Folie à Deux is slated to open in October 2024, while The Batman Part II is due a year later. It’s still a long way to go. Until then, DC Studios has Shazam! Fury of the Gods coming out on March 16, followed by The Flash on June 15, and then Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom in December.

Photo: TPG News/Click Photos

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