The team behind Joker is ready to laugh it up once again, with filmmaker Todd Phillips officially confirming he has completed a script for a sequel to his Oscar-winning 2019 film.
Phillips shared a cover page to the script, co-written with Joker collaborator Scott Silver, along with a photo of star Joaquin Phoenix reading its pages. Phillips also revealed the working title is Joker: Folie à deux, a reference to a medical term for a mental disorder that affects two or more individuals.
Phoenix earned a best actor Oscar for the role of Arthur Fleck, a troubled man who evolves into a folk villain type figure by the end of the story. Joker earned an $1 billion globally, a staggering sum for a film that had a relatively modest budget by comic book movie standards. In all, Joker received 11 Oscar nominations, with composer Hidur Guonadottir winning for best score in addition to Phoenix’s win. Joker was praised for playing more like an early Martin Scorsese film than a comic book movie, though it did have some comic book tie-ins, including the inclusion of a young Bruce Wayne.
The Hollywood Reporter broke the news in 2019 that Phillips would return to write a Joker sequel, and last week reported that the filmmaker may serve as an advisor of some sort on future DC projects for Warner Bros.