The upcoming Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga's Joker: Folie a Deux, directed by Todd Phillips, got an 11-minute standing ovation at the ongoing edition of the Venice Film Festival. Before the premiere, Phoenix showed up early and generously walked the carpet as he took selfies with fans, reports Variety. Todd Phillips borrowed a paper fan from a guest to fan himself and keep cool in the hot temperatures. Lady Gaga arrived to chants of her name as the paparazzi created one of the biggest frenzies of this year's festival, with photographers tripping over each other on the carpet to get a shot of the star.
As per Variety, one fan with pink hair held up a sign that read, "Gaga I just wanna hold you for a while". The actress needed help manoeuvring in her dress as a handler took her hand to fans and signed a long line of autographs.
The premiere also included CAA CEO Bryan Lourd and Warner Bros. Pictures CEO Mike De Luca in attendance. As the actress-singer made her way down the stairs from the balcony seat where she watched the movie, she almost caused a stampede as she signed autographs for fans.
Joaquin Phoenix left the theatre early after nine minutes of clapping. He and Lady Gaga were in deep conversation during the standing ovation, seemingly discussing the movie. Lady Gaga also hugged her fiance, Michael Polansky, twice during the celebration.
Folie a Deux is the follow-up to Phillips' 2019 film Joker, which also premiered in Venice and won the prestigious Golden Lion. It went on to become the sixth-highest-grossing film of the year and won the Academy Awards for Best Actor for Phoenix's performance and original score for Hildur Gudnadottir. It received a total of 11 Oscar nominations, including for Best Picture, becoming the first DC Comics film to do so.
Joker 2 also stars Brendan Gleeson, Catherine Keener and Zazie Beetz, and is set to bow in theatres on October 4.
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