Lady Gaga; Joaquin Phoenix.Photo: Eamonn M. McCormack/Getty Images; Steve Granitz/WireImage
Paging Dr. Quinzel!
Lady Gagais in talks to play Harley Quinn, oppositeJoaquin Phoenix, in the upcoming follow-up to 2019’sJoker— which is also set to be a musical, PEOPLE confirms.
While plot and character details are still unknown, Harley — originally known as Dr. Harleen Quinzel — is villain Joker’s love interest/sidekick in several iterations of theBatmanstory, and met the sinister prankster while serving as his psychiatrist at Gotham City’s Arkham Asylum.
With a working title ofJoker: Folie à Deux, the film will seeTodd Phillipsreturn as director, as well as co-writer alongside Scott Silver.
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Joaquin Phoenix inJoker(2019).Niko Tavernise/Warner Bros. Entertainment
Phillips, 51 alluded last week that aJokersequelwas in pre-production on Instagram.
The two-part post opened with the red cover ofa script titledJoker: Folie à Deux. The binder was dated May 18 and featured his name next to that of Silver, 57, with whom he also co-wrote the firstJokerscreenplay.
A second shot showed Phoenix — who won theAcademy AwardforBest Actor in 2020 for his role as Arthur Fleckand his alter ego in the first film — casually reading the script on a couch while smoking a cigarette.
WhileDeadlinereported at the time that Phoenix, 47, had yet to officially confirm that he’ll pick up the lipstick again, the post teased the possibility that the actor would once again step into the supervillain’s shoes.
RELATED VIDEO:JokerBreaks October Box-Office Record with $93.5 Million
Phillips' originalJokerbroke box-office recordsas the first R-rated movie to hit the $1 billion mark in 2019. The movie reimagined the DC character’s narrative andearned 12 Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay.
In addition to Phoenix’s win, composer Hildur Guðnadóttir took home Best Original Score.
Responding to the backlash, Phoenix said in part in 2019, “Well, I think that, for most of us, you’re able to tell the difference between right and wrong.”
He added at aJokerpress conference,according to IGN, “Those that aren’t are capable of interpreting anything in the way that they may want to.”
source: people.com
