By Filmmaker Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie à Deux” is in cinemas now and stirring a lot of talk. Some is about the box office, which is now looking to potentially give “Morbius” a challenger, and some is about the various reactions to the film itself.
MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD FOR “JOKER FOLIE A DEUX”
The ending has also generated a lot of discussion as Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck takes responsibility for the crimes he committed in the first movie, dismissing his Joker persona as a fantasy.
He sees Lee (Lady Gaga) who rejects him and walks away, only for him to give himself up and go back to prison where he’s stabbed by another Arkham inmate who was a fan and is seemingly inspired to become ‘The Joker’.
Turns out the original planned ending was going to be different. Lady Gaga told Vanity Fair last month that she, Phoenix and Phillips would “very often meet in Joaquin’s trailer and sometimes we would just tear the script up and start all over.”
Phillips subsequently confirmed they did a LOT of re-writing on the film and that likely includes Arthur’s demise which was apparently originally going to play out very differently.
According to MyTimeToShineHello and other sources (via CBM) the original ending of the film has Arthur catching up with Lee (Lady Gaga) on the iconic steps from the first film.
In this version, she’s fully embraced her new “Harley Quinn” persona and then kills Fleck herself before dancing and singing “That’s Entertainment” on the steps as the cops close in around her.
Video of on-set filming of that ending has resurfaced online today in the wake of all the discussion about the film. Why the studio decided to change it is not clear.
Reports the past few days have indicated the studio decided not to test-screen the Joker sequel at all, even as reports about a test screening were published across film and geek sites in mid-May.
So, supposedly they filmed 3 different endings for #JokerFolieADeux in case the real one (which “it did”) leaked and they decided to NOT GO WITH THIS ONE??? pic.twitter.com/mMQao2A4LE
— Damien 🃏 (@GagaUnderMike) October 5, 2024
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