Love it or hate it, Todd Phillips‘ 2019 film “Joker” still made $1.074 billion at the global box office. That means even though its sequel doesn’t hit theaters until October 2024, “Joker: Folie á Deux” is one of Hollywood’s most anticipated films. And who could blame fanboys for their excitement with Lady Gaga on board as Harley Quinn and a supporting cast of Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener, and Zazie Beetz? That’s not a bad place to start for a sequel, especially on top of Joaquin Phoenix reprising his role as Arthur Fleck/Joker.
READ MORE: Lady Gaga Shares ‘Joker 2’ Teaser Confirming Her Role In Film
Now Deadline reports that an additional actor joins the cast: Harry Lawtey, star of HBO‘s “Industry.” On the workplace drama, Lawtey plays Roger Spearing, a Welsh working-class Oxford grad who works the CPS desk at Pierpoint & Co., the show’s prestigious investment bank. No word on who Lawtey plays in “Folie á Deux,” though; perhaps an Arkham Asylum inmate, as most of the movie reportedly takes place there. Whomever he plays, Deadline’s sources claim it’s a significant role.
“Joker: Folie á Deux” sees Phoenix reprise his role as Arthur Fleck, with Lady Gaga as his psychiatrist turned psychotic love interest, Harley Quinn. The movie reportedly takes place almost exclusively in Arkham Asylum, the Batman universe’s prison for the criminally insane, and will have musical elements. Given the film’s subtitle (translated from French, “a madness shared by two,”), expect Joker and Quinn’s romantic affair to take center stage in the sequel. After all, they don’t call it “Mad Love” for nothing.
Philip directs the sequel from a script by Scott Silver, as he did with 2019’s “Joker.” The film isn’t part of the DCEU, so no one has to worry about Dwayne Johnson‘s Black Adam showing up to crash Joker’s party.
As for Lawtey, the second season of “Industry” just finished airing. Catch him next in Netflix‘s “The Pale Blue Eye” with Christian Bale, out this coming January. Other upcoming projects for Lawtey include ITV‘s “You & Me.”
“Joker: Folie á Deux” hits theaters on October 4, 2024. So, who will join Lawtey in the film’s expanded cast? Fans will likely find out more casting news soon.
