‘Joker 3’ not happening, says director Todd Phillips

There likely won’t be a third Joker film, according to director Todd Phillips – see what the filmmaker had to say below.

• READ MORE: ‘Joker’ review: a melancholic psychodrama punctuated by splashes of shocking violence

In a new interview with Variety, Phillips spoke at length about the first two Joker films; 2019’s Joker and the forthcoming Joker: Folie à Deux. Towards the end of the cover story, the director shared an update on the future of the franchise.

“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,” he said, seemingly confirming that the upcoming Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga-led sequel will see the end of the world he’s built.

Joker: Folie à Deux will see Phoenix return as Arthur Fleck/Joker, while Lady Gaga takes on the role of Harleen “Lee” Quinzel – a version of Harley Quinn. The film won’t be a straightforward psychological drama like the first, and will instead take on the form of a jukebox musical.

Most recently, Lady Gaga opened up about what to expect from Folie à Deux: “There’s music, there’s dance, it’s a drama, it’s also a courtroom drama, it’s a comedy, it’s happy, it’s sad. It’s a testament to [Todd] as a director, that he would rather be creative than just tell a traditional story of love.”

The sequel to 2019’s Joker will be released on October 4, exactly five years after the original film came out.

In a glowing five-star review of 2019’s Joker, NME wrote: “If there is one criticism to levy at Joker, it is that one of the climactic scenes is extended past the point in which belief can be suspended considering its very ‘real world’ context. To say anything less cryptic would spoil the surprise though.”

“Anyway, that alone isn’t enough to derail the power of this instant classic. Yup, instant classic. Bold words. Bold proclamation. It is said without fear of plausible recrimination. Todd Phillips isn’t clowning around. This is edge-of-your-seat stuff. This is outstanding.”

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