Director Todd Phillips Confirms ‘Joker’ Sequel & Reveals New Title

Send in the clown again. Well, the rumors are true, and it seems director Todd Phillips is getting ahead of them and trying to announce things on his own terms. Following a recent Puck News report that Phillips was “getting close” on a sequel to “Joker 2” and all of us wondering what that means exactly, well, “The Hangover” director has revealed that exactly. Posting to Instagram, Phillips posted the cover page of his “Joker” sequel script, showing the title in the process. Called “Joker: Folie a Deux,” at least the working title, Phillips revealed the sequel screenplay, written by Scott Silver (the original “Joker,” “The Fighter,” “8 Mile”) and himself—is done. Moreover, Phillips also posted an image of Joaquin Phoenix reading the script, which presumably confirms that the notoriously picky actor is on board with actually going through with a sequel.

READ MORE: ‘Joker’ Director Todd Phillips Eyed As Potential DC Films “Advisor”

Folie a Deux is a French term and medical term for a mental disorder that affects two or more individuals, which already has fan speculation through the roof that Phillips will introduce Harley Quinn into the sequel. Folie a Deux is a pretty apt and perfect description of the damaged and toxic relationship that Joker and Quinn have formed in various comic stories, so this feels like a strong hint that points towards a significant showdown between this version of Joker and the uncast Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie plays the character in the DC Universe, but Phillips version is understood to be essentially on a different Earth within the DC multiverse).

Not much is known beyond this, but every report of Warner Bros. Discovery and David Zaslav taking over has suggested high praise for what Phillips achieved with the original “Joker.” Namely, a $1 billion-plus return on a $50 million budget—meager by superhero standards—and a very alternative approach to DC stories more in the vein of a Martin Scorsese drama than a traditional superhero film. “Joker” impressed on several levels, including awards season, landing a whopping Academy Award nominations, a win for Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix, plus Best Score, and a nod for Best Picture and Best Director for Todd Phillips on top of Best Adapted Screenplay for Silver and Phillips.

Here’s the synopsis of the 2019 hit to refresh your memory, but it’s a reminder about how much Joker was an emotionally searing look into a failed psyche.

Forever alone in a crowd, failed comedian Arthur Fleck seeks connection as he walks the streets of Gotham City. Arthur wears two masks — the one he paints for his day job as a clown, and the guise he projects in a futile attempt to feel like he’s part of the world around him. Isolated, bullied, and disregarded by society, Fleck begins a slow descent into madness as he transforms into the criminal mastermind known as The Joker.

As eluded to earlier, recent reports suggest Phillips has been eyed to help develop other DC projects at Warner Bros./DC Films. Whether he takes on a reported “advisor” role in the DC Film division is clear, but at the very least, we now know a “Joker” sequel is finally moving forward.