Gangs of New York actor Brendan Gleeson is the newest cast member to join Todd Phillips’ comic book movie sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux.
Though Warner Bros. has not officially confirmed the casting decision and Gleeson’s role in the film is not yet fully known, his involvement in the movie was reported by Deadline.
Gleeson has been a regular figure in major Hollywood films for decades, including in movies like Cold Mountain, Mission: Impossible II, A.I. Artificial Intelligence, 28 Days Later…, Paddington 2, and last year’s The Tragedy of Macbeth. He also played Alastor “MadEye” Moody in the Harry Potter franchise.
With 2019’s Joker, Phillips proved audiences were willing to go out in droves to watch a compelling story based on a comic book character, even if it was not filled to the brim with action set pieces and computer-generated imagery. With a relatively meager budget of $55 million for a comic book adaptation, the film would go on to gross more than $1 billion worldwide, according to Box Office Mojo. Not only does this represent the first rated-R film to achieve such a milestone, but it was also the first movie in the Batman franchise to receive the mature-oriented rating.
Joker was a pared-down character study of a failed comedian, Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, who descends into madness and becomes a serial killer. Though the film took much inspiration from the works of Martin Scorsese, in particular Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, and some argued the movie wielded its mental illness subject matter somewhat recklessly, it proved to be a worthy vehicle for Phoenix to flex his thespian chops, with the actor garnering an Oscar for the role.
Not much is known about the finer details of the sequel’s plot. But we do know it will be co-written by the original film’s screenplay writers, Phillips and Scott Silver. The film will also reportedly be filming in California, rather than New York City like the first movie, purportedly to take advantage of tax credits. It’s also been confirmed Lady Gaga will co-star in the film.
On the rumor front, Zazie Beetz was reported to be in talks to reprise her role from the first movie as Sophie Dumond, the single mother living in Gotham City who Arthur fixated on in a romantic interlude that only existed in his mind. There’s also been as-of-yet-unconfirmed talks that the movie will be a musical, take place within Arkham State Hospital, and that Gaga will play Joker’s partner in crime, Harley Quinn.
We do know from WB’s official announcement that Joker: Folie à Deux‘s release date is Oct. 4, 2024. The production for the film is expected to go underway in Dec. 2022, according to Deadline.
