The highly anticipated DC outing ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’ from director Todd Phillips will arrive in Indian theatres two days before its global release. This is indeed exciting for the country’s DC fanbase who is dying to witness the Academy Award-winning actor, Joaquin Phoenix, reprising his character of Arthur Fleck – a mentally ill, poor but nihilistic criminal donning a clown-inspired persona. Alongside Phoenix, we will see Lady Gaga playing Harley Quinn, who is a music therapist for Arkham State Hospital this time. Her character in the film marks a noticeable departure from the previous adaptations, most of which showcased her bubbly, wisecracking, snappy, and wildly unpredictable persona.
As confirmed by Sreedhar Pillai, one of the most prominent entertainment industry trackers and columnists in India, Joker 2 will hit the Indian theatres on October 2, teasing its plan to benefit from the extended five-day opening weekend as 2nd October is a national holiday in India. The film is slated for a worldwide theatrical release on October 4.
While the early release of Joker 2 is great news for DC fans in India, it could pose a challenge for Hindi films released during that period. Joker 2 may give pretty stiff competition to Akshay Kumar’s Sky Force, which is also slated to come out on this year’s Gandhi Jayanti. Considering Khiladi Kumar’s ongoing streak of box office flops, the extended five-day opening weekend will likely benefit the upcoming Joaquin Phoenix starrer more compared to Kumar’s next action-war movie. Plus, we cannot make the mistake of taking Joker 2 lightly, as its 2019 predecessor raked over 50 crores within its first two weeks in India. Given the current hype for Folie a Deux in India and across the globe, the odds of the sequel performing incredibly well in the country look great.
Joker 2 may even end up burying Ananya Pandey’s much-talked-about forthcoming collaboration with Vikramaditya Motwane, CTRL, scheduled to arrive in theatres on October 4. The DC sequel has only nine days to mint as much money as it can, as Alia Bhatt’s Jigra (Dharma Productions) and Dream Girl fame Raaj Shaandilyaa’s Vicky Vidya Ka Woh Wala Video (led by Rajkummar Rao and Triptii Dimri) are all set to clash at the box office on October 11.
Joker: Folie a Deux stars Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Zazie Beetz, Catherine Keener, and Brendan Gleeson. Stay tuned for more updates.