The latest cast member to join Joker 2, aka Joker: Folie à Deux, is Jacob Lofland. As previously announced, the sequel will bring back Joaquin Phoenix to reprise his role as Arthur Fleck, the man who becomes the titular Clown Prince of Crime in the first film. Todd Phillips is also back in the director’s chair, but despite these returns, the new movie will be wildly different from the original, as it will be presented as a musical.
Brendan Gleeson and Catherine Keener also star, and Zazie Beetz is in talks to reprise her role. It has also been reported that Lady Gaga will co-star with Phoenix, reportedly as a new incarnation of Harley Quinn. This would make sense given that the film takes place in Arkham Asylum where Arthur is locked up after the events of the first movie. Per THR, Lofland’s role has not been revealed, though he will be playing an “inmate at the asylum who develops a relationship with Arthur Fleck” in a key supporting role.
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Lofland broke into the scene with his role in the 2013 film Mud alongside Matthew McConaughey and Tye Sheridan. He also played a younger version of Pierce Brosnan’s character in two seasons of the AMC series The Son. The actor is perhaps best known for his role as Aris in the Maze Runner films, and last year he appeared in the horror movie A House on the Bayou.
Will Joker 2 Be as Successful As the Original?
The first Joker was a tremendous hit when it was released in movie theaters in 2019, pulling in more than one billion dollars on a budget of less than $70 million. Directed by Todd Phillips and co-written by Phillips and Scott Silver, the film serves as an origin story for Gotham City’s most infamous villain, showcasing how a party clown named Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) turns into the man known as the Joker. It’s been reported that the budget for the sequel will be much higher now that there’s greater confidence in Joker movies being a big hit.
There were quickly efforts made at Warner Bros. to get Joker 2 made, but the reason that it’s been taking some time is that Phillips and Phoenix wanted to be sure they had an idea that was just right for the follow-up film. They had discussed a potential sequel going back to the beginning of shooting the first Joker, but it wasn’t going to be until there was a really solid idea for a new story that the two would agree to sign on. It seems that a musical co-starring Lady Gaga struck the right chord.
“Well, a movie doesn’t make a billion dollars and they don’t talk about a sequel,” Phillips said in 2019 after the first movie’s success, via IndieWire. “Joaquin and I have publicly said we’ve been talking about a sequel since week two of shooting because it’s a fun thing to talk about."
Joker: Folie à Deux will be released in theaters on Oct. 4, 2024.
