In a tell-all interview with ‘Variety’, Phillips, along with his lead stars Phoenix and Lady Gaga, discussed the film’s musical elements, budget speculation, and the possibility of a third ‘Joker’ movie in the works.The film which is a sequel to the Oscar-nominated 2019 film, will be a musical. Addressing the challenges of categorizing the film in a musical genre, the director explained, “Most of the music in the movie is really just dialogue. It’s just Arthur not having the words to say what he wants to say, so he sings them instead.”
The film’s lead stars Gaga and Phoenix also shared that the singing may even be off-key to make the song sequences sound authentic and organic. Gaga explained, “Neither Arthur nor Lee are professional singers and they shouldn’t sound like they are.”
Phoenix echoed this sentiment, adding, “It was important to me that we never perform the songs as one typically does in a musical. We didn’t want vibrato and perfect notes…nerve-racking but honest.”
As the film gears up for its release in October, coming in five years since it broke records and became the first R-rated film to cross the $1 billion mark at the box office, Phillips addressed wild rumours about the sequel’s budget. Reports claimed that the film’s budget soared past the $200 million mark. However, the director clarified to the portal that the actual cost was not more than $60 million. He called the reports “absurd” and said, “I read these stories, and it seems like they’re on the side of the multinational corporations.”
Phillips was also asked about his plans for a third instalment in the ‘Joker’ franchise, to which he shot down saying, “It was fun to play in this sort of sandbox for two movies, but I think we’ve said what we wanted to say in this world.”
‘Joker 2’ arrives in theatres worldwide on October 4.
Joker: Folie A Deux – Official Trailer
