Todd Phillips’ 2019 Oscar-winning Joker did not release in China, but his sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, has been confirmed for October 16 in the market. Warner Bros’ and DC’s official Weibo accounts confirmed the date.
Joker: Folie à Deux, starring Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga, had its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in early September, debuting to a 12-minute ovation. It will begin overseas rollout on October 2 and release domestically on October 4.
As with Phillips’ first Joker, this one is R-rated, but it passed China’s censors likely due to the less overtly violent nature of the film. The first movie also came amid pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong during which some adopted the character as a symbol. It’s not unprecedented for a U.S. R-rated movie to secure a China release, but it’s also not a given. Deadpool & Wolverine and Alien: Romulus have played the market this year, with the latter the No. 2 studio title of 2024 so far.
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Folie à Deux is releasing into the post-Golden Week corridor in China. The market is coming off of a lackluster summer for local titles at the box office and a muted mid-Autumn festival.
The 2019 Joker garnered 11 Oscar nominations — two of which it converted to wins, for Phoenix in Best Actor and for Hildur Guðnadóttir’s Original Score. The movie grossed $1.079B worldwide, despite not being released in China, and became the first R-rated title ever to cross the $1B benchmark, and the biggest R-rated film of all time (it was only recently unseated by Deadpool & Wolverine).
Folie à Deux, which hit domestic tracking at $70M+, is a crime drama with musical flourishes that finds Arthur Fleck (Phoenix) institutionalized at Arkham State Hospital, awaiting trial for his crimes as the Joker. While grappling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love in Harleen “Lee” Quinel, aka Harley Quinn (Lady Gaga), but discovers the music that has always been within him. Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, Jacob Lofland and Harry Lawtey also star with Zazie Beetz returning as Sophie from the first film.
In Venice, Phillips talked about the decision to music a prominent part of his sequel, noting it was something he discussed with Phoenix on the set of the first film. “If you remember the first film, Arthur has a musicality to him. He is often dancing to express the way he feels. And Hildur Guðnadóttir’s score is almost a character in the first film,” Phillips said. “So when it started taking shape with actual music elements, we thought what if we got Lady Gaga who actually brings music with her.”