Paul Schrader, the man behind films Taxi Driver, Blue Collar, American Gigolo and First Reformed (which earned him an Oscar nomination), among other films, could only watch around 20 minutes of Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga's Joker: Folie a Duex. Notably, the sequel to Joker, which also features the original cast has underperformed at the box office, receiving negative reviews and projected to incur losses between $150 million and $200 million during its theatrical run.
In an interaction with Interview Magazine, the filmmaker revealed he had gone to watch the musical but left midway. “I saw about 10 or 15 minutes of it,” the Oscar-nominated director said. “I left, bought something, came back, saw another 10 minutes. That was enough," he was quoted as saying.
During the interview, Schrader once again spoke about Joker 2, calling it a "really bad musical" before adding, "I don’t like either of those people."
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“I don’t like them as actors. I don’t like them as characters. I don’t like the whole thing. I mean, those are people who, if they came to your house, you’d slip out the back door," he said.
Despite high anticipation for Joker: Folie à Deux after the success of the 2019 film, which grossed $1 billion worldwide and earned Joaquin Phoenix an Oscar for Best Actor, the sequel received negative reviews following its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It went on to debut with a disappointing $37 million at the domestic box office.
Schrader, meanwhile, is set to begin filming his upcoming feature, Non Compos Mentis, in November, which will explore "the foolish things men do for love." In late August, the director of Oh, Canada mentioned he was also working on a draft for The Basics of Philosophy, which focuses on an intellectual university philosophy professor. This film will align with his Man in a Room spiritual trilogy, which includes First Reformed (2017), The Card Counter (2021), and Master Gardener (2022).