Warner Bros Pictures’ highly anticipated sequel, “Joker: Folie À Deux,” is set to premiere at the Venice Film Festival in September, a month to its release on October 4.
The Venice Film Festival, scheduled to run from August 28 to September 14, will see the musical competing with an impressive lineup of films including Pedro Almodóvar’s “The Room Next Door,” Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza’s “Iddu (Sicilian Letters),” Yeo Siew Hua’s “Stranger Eyes,” Brady Corbet’s “The Brutalist,” Justin Kurzel’s “The Order” and Gianni Amelio’s “Campo di Battaglia (Battleground).”
The original “Joker,” which saw Joaquin Phoenix team up with director Todd Phillips. premiered at the Venice Film Festival in 2019 and walked away with the crown jewel of the festival: The Golden Lion.
The recently released second trailer on July 23 set a record as the fastest of the year to reach the million mark, doing so in just an hour!
With Harvey Dent confirmed in the trailer and Arthur Curry deep in his character as Gotham’s worst, excitement is building for the film’s release and Warner Bros’ boldness may once again be justified.
Despite the overwhelming positivity, the R-rated sequel still received heavy backlash from American critics at the festival, something London-based box office analyst, Luiz Fernando points out.
“WB must be strongly confident about ‘Joker Folie À Deux” …that’s a dangerous spot no one wants to be in and WB seems to be daring again” he said on X.
It won’t be the first time executives at Warner Bros Pictures have gambled with the Clown Prince of Crime and won.
The 2019 R-rated movie, “Joker,” was a significant departure from the mainstream Joker persona and still grossed over $1 billion worldwide, which is the highest ever for an R-rated movie.
WB will be further emboldened by the sky-high reception to the two trailers of the movie. The trailer launch in April saw 167 million views in the first 24 hours, WB’s biggest since “Barbie” (2023).
“Joker Folie À Deux” will be released worldwide on October 4. Watch the trailer here.