It seems that Joker: Folie à Deux will be returning to an iconic location from the first film.
Spoilers for Joker: Folie à Deux follow.
Over the weekend, Lady Gaga was seen filming a scene on what have become known as the ‘Joker stairs.’ In reality, they are a set of stairs connecting Shakespeare and Anderson avenues at West 167th Street in Highbridge in the Bronx, New York City. In the first film we had a scene of Joker dancing down the stairs set to Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2,” for the sequel it appears we will be watching Harley ascend the stairs.
Lady Gaga en las escaleras de #Joker durante el Rodaje de #Joker2 pic.twitter.com/BAYhxKB2x6
— Jandor (@Jango1138) April 2, 2023
There were several takes done, and at one point Gaga was seen talking with director, Todd Phillips.
[FOTOS UHQ] Lady Gaga filma “Joker: Folie à Deux” en la ciudad de Nueva York (1 de abril).#LadyGaga #Joker2 #NewYork pic.twitter.com/TIlXTduyim
— topic week (@topicweekmx) April 2, 2023
The majority of takes did not involve any dancing, but at least one did.
Just like The Joker, Harley Quinn did a little dance on the stairs 😏pic.twitter.com/Pgj3b32C8y
— Lady Gaga Now 🃏 (@ladygaganownet) April 1, 2023
Apparently the sequence did have her making it all the way to the top of the stairs.
#Joker2 pic.twitter.com/vZiqVZiao1
— Lady Gaga News (@LGNewsFrance) April 2, 2023
Joker hit theaters in 2019 and quickly became the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time–a seat it still holds more than 3 years later–by a significant margin. The Clown Prince of Crime raked in $1.07 billion at the worldwide box office, followed by Deadpool 2 and Deadpool at $786 and $782 million respectively. Phillips’ unique take on the character was also nominated for 11 Academy Awards, winning two of those. Joaquin Phoenix won Best Actor, while Hildur Guðnadóttir took him a golden statue for Original Music Score.
Phoenix returns to once again star in the sequel, and Phillips has returned to both write and direct. Alongside Lady Gaga’s Harley Quinn, there are currently-unconfirmed reports of Zazie Beetz, Catherine Keener, Harry Lawtey, and Jacob Lofland joining the cast as well.
The film’s title already feels like a solid fit for the characters. The term ‘folie à deux,’ or ‘folly of two’ is a french term that refers to a condition of shared psychosis or shared delusional disorder. Applying real-world medical terms to fictional characters can be rocky, but if ever there was a term to describe Joker and Harley Quinn, this sure seems like it.
Joker: Folie à Deux is currently scheduled to hit theaters on Oct. 4, 2024.
