Lady Gaga may be taking on a popular role within the world of superheroes, as she recently confirmed she’ll star in the sequel to Todd Phillips’ hit film, Joker.
Gaga, a former Academy Award nominee, shared a tease for the film, which brings back Academy Award winner Joaquin Phoenix as the title character.
Taking to her social media on Thursday, including Instagram, she shared a video clip set to the song Cheek to Cheek, which she covered with Tony Bennett during their 2014 TV special.
In the short video teaser, the word “PHOENIX” appears on the screen first, followed by a silhouette of Joaquin’s Joker smoking a cigarette. Next, “GAGA” appears on screen, followed by a silhouette of her in a long dress.
The name “JOKER” appears on screen, followed by their two characters’ silhouettes dancing together, each with an outstretched arm. Joker has his cigarette in hand.
The clip closes with “FOLIE A DEUX” on screen and October 4, 2024, as the expected release date.
Gaga sharing the big news sent fans and followers into a frenzy, with her teaser clip receiving over a million Likes and 21,000-plus comments.
Lady Gaga could play Joker’s love interest
This past June, Variety reported that Lady Gaga was “in early negotiations” to appear in Joker: Folie à Deux, the sequel to 2019’s Joker. That report mentioned that she was in talks to play Harley Quinn.
Variety also indicated that the Joker sequel’s subtitle, Folie à Deux, refers to a “shared delusional disorder.” That could be a reference to Harley Quinn, Joker’s main squeeze and companion from many of the DC comic books.
The popular DC comics character has appeared in several other films, including two Suicide Squad movies and 2020’s Birds of Prey. All three of those films featured Margot Robbie in the role of Harley Quinn.
In addition to 13 Grammy Awards during her career, the 36-year-old Lady Gaga won an Academy Award for her song Shallow, which was part of A Star is Born, the 2018 film she starred in with Bradley Cooper. Gaga, Cooper, and co-star Sam Elliott were nominated for acting awards at the Oscars but failed to win.
Joker was box office hit, won multiple Oscars
The 2019 movie Joker, directed and produced by Todd Phillips, was one of the rare superhero films that not only was a success at the box office but was also critically acclaimed.
The crime drama-thriller movie provided a deep dive into main character Arthur Fleck’s dark descent into insanity and nihilism, leading to his violent rampage against the wealthy as the Joker.
According to Box Office Mojo data, the film had a budget of $55 million and went on to make over $1 billion worldwide, a rare feat for an R-rated superhero movie.
Joker also received 11 nominations at the 92nd Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor. Phoenix won the Best Actor award, giving him his first Oscar. The film also claimed the Best Original Score for Icelandic composer Hildur Guðnadóttir.
Joker: Folie à Deux arrives in theaters on October 4, 2024.