Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix returns as “Joker”

Three years after the first part, director Todd Phillips has announced a sequel to the Oscar-winning film. None other than Joaquin Phoenix returns in the title role.

It was the cinema hit of 2019, was nominated eleven times for an Oscar the following year and was awarded two Golden Boys for Best Film Music and Best Actor. Now fans can look forward to: “The Joker” gets a sequel.

This was confirmed by US director Todd Phillips on his Instagram account. He posted a photo showing the cover of the apparently already finished script. On a red background are the words: “Joker Folie à Deux, written by Scott Silver and Todd Phillips”. The two were already responsible for the story of the first blockbuster.

But the highlight for the fans of the film is hidden in the second part of the post, which you can see by clicking on the arrow on the right of the picture. The black-and-white photo features none other than Joaquin Phoenix, who was acclaimed for his portrayal of the mentally ill Batman antagonist. The actor is sitting on a couch smoking a cigarette and appears to be engrossed in the script.

In 2020, the “Joker” brought him the Oscar for Best Actor. However, the role also demanded a lot from him: Phoenix lost 24 kilograms of body weight and prepared meticulously. This had an impact on his own psyche, as he explained at the 2019 Venice Film Festival: “You start to go crazy.”

According to the title of the second part, it doesn’t seem to be any less demanding. “Folie à deux” is a technical term for a psychotic disorder. In this case, people close to you develop common delusional ideas.