91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频� is a hard act to follow. Todd Phillips91裸聊视频� dark, Scorsese-inspired character study about the Batman villain made over a billion dollars at the box office, , dominated the cultural discourse for months and created a new movie landmark.

It wasn91裸聊视频檛 for everyone, but it got under people91裸聊视频檚 skin.

Knowing that it was a fool91裸聊视频檚 errand to try to do it again, Phillips and Phoenix pivoted, or rather, pirouetted into what would become 91裸聊视频� .91裸聊视频� The dark and fantastical musical journey goes deeper into the mind of Arthur Fleck as he awaits trial for murder and falls in love with a fellow Arkham inmate, Lee, played by Lady Gaga. There is singing, dancing and mayhem.

If Phillips and Phoenix have learned anything over the years, it91裸聊视频檚 that the scarier something is, the better. So once again they rebelled against expectations and went for broke with something that91裸聊视频檚 already sharply divided critics.

As with the first, audiences will get to decide for themselves when it opens in theaters on Oct. 4.

91裸聊视频淗OW ARE YOU GOING TO GET JOAQUIN PHOENIX TO DO A SEQUEL?91裸聊视频�

Any comic book movie that makes a billion dollars is going to have the sequel talk. But with 91裸聊视频淛oker91裸聊视频� it was never a given that it would go anywhere: Joaquin Phoenix doesn91裸聊视频檛 do sequels. Yet it turned out, Phoenix wasn91裸聊视频檛 quite done with Arthur Fleck yet either.

During the first, the actor wondered what this character would look like in different situations. He and the on-set photographer mocked up classic movie posters, like 91裸聊视频淥ne Flew Over the Cuckoo91裸聊视频檚 Nest91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淵entl91裸聊视频� with the Joker in them and showed them to Phillips.

91裸聊视频淪ometimes you91裸聊视频檙e just done with something and other times you have an ongoing interest,91裸聊视频� Phoenix said. 91裸聊视频淭here was just more to explore. 91裸聊视频� I just felt like we weren91裸聊视频檛 done.91裸聊视频�

So Phillips and his co-writer Scott Silver got to work on a new script, one that leaned into the music in Arthur Fleck91裸聊视频檚 head. Then his dreary Arkham life turns to Technicolor when he meets and falls for Lee, a Joker superfan.

91裸聊视频淛oaquin Phoenix is not going to do a line drive. He91裸聊视频檚 not going to do something that91裸聊视频檚 fan service,91裸聊视频� Phillips said. 91裸聊视频淗e wanted to be as scared as he was with the first movie. So, we tried to make something that is as audacious and out there and hopefully people get it.91裸聊视频�

LADY GAGA FINDS LEE91裸聊视频橲 VOICE, AND LOSES HER OWN

One decision that91裸聊视频檚 already sparking debate is casting someone with a voice like Lady Gaga91裸聊视频檚 and not using that instrument to its full power. Phillips, who was a producer on 91裸聊视频淎 Star is Born,91裸聊视频� wanted someone who 91裸聊视频渂rought music with them.91裸聊视频� But Lee isn91裸聊视频檛 a singer.

91裸聊视频淪inging is so second nature to me, and making music and performing on stage is so inside of me. Especially this music,91裸聊视频� Gaga said. 91裸聊视频淚 worked extensively on untraining myself for this movie and throwing away as much as I could all the time to make sure I was never locking into what I do. I had to really kind of erase it all.91裸聊视频�

Phoenix, who wasn91裸聊视频檛 quite sure what it would be like working with someone who has such a larger-than-life superstar persona, found Gaga to be refreshingly unpretentious and available. And as an actor, he admired her commitment to the character.

91裸聊视频淗er power is in singing and singing a particular way,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淔or her to sacrifice that through character, to do something that people would call a musical, but to not be performing it in the way that would sound best as a singer but to approach it from the character was a very difficult process. I was really impressed with her willingness to do that.91裸聊视频�

In addition to writing a 91裸聊视频渨altz that falls apart91裸聊视频� for the film, Gaga is releasing a companion album, 91裸聊视频淗arlequin91裸聊视频� on Friday with song titles including 91裸聊视频淥h, When the Saints,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淲orld on a String,91裸聊视频� 91裸聊视频淚f My Friends Could See Me Now91裸聊视频� and 91裸聊视频淭hat91裸聊视频檚 Life.91裸聊视频�

SORRY PUDDIN91裸聊视频�, THIS AIN91裸聊视频橳 MARGOT ROBBIE91裸聊视频橲 HARLEY QUINN

Much like Phoenix91裸聊视频檚 Joker isn91裸聊视频檛 Heath Ledger91裸聊视频檚 or Jack Nicholson91裸聊视频檚, Gaga91裸聊视频檚 Lee is not the

91裸聊视频淲e91裸聊视频檙e never going to outdo what Margot Robbie did,91裸聊视频� Phillips said. 91裸聊视频淵ou have to do something 180 degrees in the other direction.91裸聊视频�

Sure, Lee will still casually light something on fire to get some time alone with Joker, but the tumult is more internal. And Gaga threw herself into making Lee something new: A real person, grounded in a reality that came before her.

91裸聊视频淚 spent a lot of my time on developing her inner life (which) for me had a lot to do with her storm and what thing was always making her about to explode,91裸聊视频� Gaga said. 91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a particular kind of danger that she carries with her, but it91裸聊视频檚 inside and it91裸聊视频檚 kind of explosive.91裸聊视频�

91裸聊视频淒O YOU JUST WANT A BRUTE?91裸聊视频�

Brendan Gleeson didn91裸聊视频檛 have much hesitation about joining the ensemble. He91裸聊视频檇 worked with Phoenix before on 91裸聊视频淭he Village91裸聊视频� and was in awe of what he91裸聊视频檇 done on the first movie.

91裸聊视频淗e has an absolute relentless integrity and curiosity and drive,91裸聊视频� Gleeson said. 91裸聊视频淗e won91裸聊视频檛 just plough the same furrow for its own sake.91裸聊视频�

But he also didn91裸聊视频檛 want to play the simple version of an Arkham prison guard.

91裸聊视频淚 said, look, do you just want a brute? Because I91裸聊视频檓 not sure I just want to do a brute,91裸聊视频� Gleeson said. 91裸聊视频淗e wanted something more. We tried to find layers in this guy.91裸聊视频�

CREATING MAYHEM

Anyone who has worked with Phoenix knows that he likes to keep things fresh. That may mean something as small as changing the location of a prop or as big as throwing out choreography that you91裸聊视频檝e been rehearsing for months at the last minute.

91裸聊视频淚 think we both love mayhem and not just in movies but on the set,91裸聊视频� Phillips said. 91裸聊视频淚t had to feel like anything can happen.91裸聊视频�

With the crew 95% the same as the first, everyone was ready to be flexible. Gaga, too, dove right in, suggesting that they sing live on camera.

91裸聊视频淚t changed the whole making of the film,91裸聊视频� Phillips said. 91裸聊视频淲e were not only singing live, we were singing live differently every take.91裸聊视频�

THAT91裸聊视频橲 ENTERTAINMENT?

Since Arthur killed Robert De Niro91裸聊视频檚 talk show host Murray Franklin on live television in the first film, he91裸聊视频檚 become a kind of icon and curiosity thanks in no small part to an oft referenced, but never seen, television movie that was made about him. Now, the trial is going to be televised as well.

91裸聊视频淯nderneath it all, there91裸聊视频檚 this idea of corruption and how everything is corrupt in the system, from the prison system to the judicial system to the idea of entertainment, quite frankly,91裸聊视频� Phillips said. 91裸聊视频淭his idea that in the States at least, everything is entertainment. A court trial could be entertainment, and a presidential election can be entertainment. So, if that91裸聊视频檚 true, what is entertainment?91裸聊视频�

NO LONGER A COMPLETE WILD CARD

It91裸聊视频檚 easier to be to the insurgent, not the incumbent, Phillips said. Although a Joker film is never going to fly completely under the radar, the spotlight is undoubtedly more intense this time around.

91裸聊视频淵ou do feel like you have a larger target on your back,91裸聊视频� Phillips said.

While much of the film was made on Warner Bros. soundstages in Los Angeles, the production did go back to New York to film again on the Bronx staircase (which now come up on Google Maps as the Joker Stairs) and outside a Manhattan courthouse. The production staged a massive protest scene, with Gaga, almost concurrently with the as if there weren91裸聊视频檛 enough eyes on them already.

Some are also handwringing about the sequel91裸聊视频檚 bigger budget and whether it can match the success of the first. But Phillips has learned to take it in stride.

91裸聊视频淭here91裸聊视频檚 a different amount of pressure, but that just comes with making movies,91裸聊视频� he said. 91裸聊视频淵ou can91裸聊视频檛 please everybody and you just kind of go for it.91裸聊视频�

Gleeson has an even sunnier outlook.

91裸聊视频淚t has kind of arthouse movie integrity on a blockbuster scale. It91裸聊视频檚 great news for cinema, is the way I look on it,91裸聊视频� Gleeson said. 91裸聊视频淚f these event movies can continue to have depth and can be so conflicting like this one, is we needn91裸聊视频檛 worry about the future of cinema.91裸聊视频�

SO, IS IT A MUSICAL?

One thing Phillips didn91裸聊视频檛 mean to do was ignite a discourse about what is and isn91裸聊视频檛 a musical. He91裸聊视频檚 just trying to manage expectations.

91裸聊视频淧eople go, 91裸聊视频榳hat do you mean it91裸聊视频檚 not a musical?91裸聊视频� And it is a musical. It has all the elements of a musical. But I guess what I mean by it is all the musicals I91裸聊视频檝e seen leave me happy at the end for the most part, 91裸聊视频楿mbrellas of Cherbourg91裸聊视频� not being one of them. This has so much sadness in it that I just didn91裸聊视频檛 want to be misleading to people.91裸聊视频�