“Sing hallelujah, come on, get happy… Get ready for the judgment day.”
From acclaimed writer/director/producer Todd Phillips comes “Joker: Folie À Deux,” the much-anticipated follow-up to 2019’s Academy Award-winning “Joker,” which earned more than $1 billion at the global box office and remains the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
The new film stars Joaquin Phoenix once again in his Oscar-winning dual role as Arthur Fleck/Joker, opposite Oscar winner Lady Gaga (“A Star Is Born”). “Joker: Folie À Deux” finds Arthur Fleck institutionalized at Arkham awaiting trial for his crimes as Joker. While struggling with his dual identity, Arthur not only stumbles upon true love, but also finds the music that’s always been inside him.
Opening in cinemas on October 4, check out the second trailer for the film.
The film also stars Oscar nominees Brendan Gleeson (“The Banshees of Inisherin”) and Catherine Keener (“Get Out,” “Capote”), alongside Zazie Beetz, reprising her role from “Joker.”
Phillips, who was nominated for Oscars for directing, writing and producing “Joker,” directed “Joker: Folie À Deux” from a screenplay by fellow Oscar nominee Scott Silver & Phillips, based on characters from DC. The film was produced by Phillips, Oscar nominee Emma Tillinger Koskoff and Joseph Garner. Lady Gaga served as music consultant. The film’s executive producers are Michael E. Uslan, Georgia Kacandes, Silver, Mark Friedberg and Jason Ruder.
Working with Phillips behind the camera are his team from “Joker,” including Oscar-nominated director of photography Lawrence Sher, production designer Mark Friedberg, Oscar-nominated editor Jeff Groth, and composer Hildur Guđnadóttir, who won the Oscar for her work on the first film.
New to the team is Oscar-nominated costume designer Arianne Phillips (“Once Upon a Time in… Hollywood,” “Don’t Worry Darling”). Ruder is the film’s executive music producer and the music supervisors are Randall Poster and George Drakoulias. Casting is by Francine Maisler (the “Dune” films, “Challengers”).
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents A Joint Effort Production, A Film by Todd Phillips, “Joker: Folie À Deux.” The film will be released worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, and will be only in theaters nationwide on October 4, 2024, and beginning internationally on 2 October, 2024.
“I Ain’t Worried” by GRAMMY® nominated band OneRepublic followed. Produced by Ryan Tedder, Brent Kutzle, Simon Oscroft and Tyler Spry, OneRepublic will perform “I Ain’t Worried” on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon (NBC, 11:35/10:35c), tonight May 27th.
With a combination of classics from the original film, new music, and score, the album reflects Top Gun’s past, present, and future all at once. It boasts instantly recognizable cuts such as the theme song “Danger Zone” by Kenny Loggins, while Top Gun: Maverick star Miles Teller recorded a show-stopping live rendition of “Great Balls of Fire” showcased in the film and included on the record.
Plus, it features original score tracks by the movie’s composers—Lorne Balfe, Harold Faltermeyer and Academy® Award winner Lady Gaga and multiple Academy® Award winner Hans Zimmer.
Producer Jerry Bruckheimer added, “This album continues the musical legacy that the original Top Gun ignited back in 1986. We are so thrilled to have Lady Gaga and OneRepublic lend their artistry towards putting a modern spin on the already iconic and beloved soundtrack.”
Making waves already, “Hold My Hand” was written for the motion picture and is featured throughout the film. The motion picture version of “Hold My Hand” features additional production and score by Lorne Balfe and Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer. It also marks Gaga’s return to writing and producing original music for film, after the success of 2018’s A Star is Born soundtrack that earned Gaga an Academy Award, four GRAMMYs®, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe Award, and Critics’ Choice Award.
Paramount Pictures’ Top Gun: Maverick visits Pete “Maverick” Mitchell (Tom Cruise) after more than thirty years of service as one of the Navy’s top aviators. Maverick is where he belongs –pushing the envelope as a courageous test pilot and dodging the advancement in rank that would ground him. When he finds himself training a detachment of TOPGUN graduates for a specialized mission the likes of which no living pilot has ever seen, Maverick encounters Lt. Bradley Bradshaw (Miles Teller), call sign: “Rooster,” the son of Maverick’s late friend and Radar Intercept Officer Lt. Nick Bradshaw, aka “Goose.” Facing an uncertain future and confronting the ghosts of his past, Maverick is drawn into a confrontation with his own deepest fears, culminating in a mission that demands the ultimate sacrifice from those who will be chosen to fly it.
Experience the “gloriously decadent” (Lindsey Bahr, Associated Press) and “murderously delicious” (Jazz Tangcay, Variety) thriller influenced by the astounding real-life story of the Gucci family and their unexpected legacy in MGM’s HOUSE OF GUCCI, available to own for the first time on Digital February 1, 2022 and on Blu-ray™, DVD and On Demand February 22, 2022 from Universal Pictures Home Entertainment.
Directed by four-time Academy Award nominee Ridley Scott (The Martian, The Gladiator), the captivating star-studded film about the iconic Italian fashion house showcases incredibly powerful and emotional performances from Academy Award® winner Lady Gaga (A Star Is Born) as Patricia Reggiani and Academy Award® nominee Adam Driver (The Last Duel, Star Wars franchise) as Maurizio Gucci as well as the extraordinary ensemble cast including Academy Award® winner Jared Leto (Dallas Buyers Club, Suicide Squad), Academy Award® winner Jeremy Irons (“The Borgias,” Justice League), Jack Huston (American Hustle), Academy Award® nominee Salma Hayek (Eternals, Hitman’s Wife Bodyguard) and Academy Award® winner Al Pacino (The Irishman, Once Upon a Time in Hollywood). Based on The New York Times best-selling novel, The House of Gucci: A Sensational Story of Murder, Madness, Glamour, and Greed by Sara Gay Forden, HOUSE OF GUCCI on Blu-ray™, DVD and Digital comes with all-new exclusive bonus content including behind-the-scenes featurettes about Lady Gaga’s magnificent transformation into Patrizia Reggiani, director Ridley Scott’s brilliant vision, the creation of the luxurious wardrobes and extravagant sets, and more taking audiences deeper into the fascinating untold story behind the world-renowned fashion brand and crumbling family empire.
HOUSE OF GUCCI is inspired by the shocking true story of the family behind the Italian fashion empire. When Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), an outsider from humble beginnings, marries into the Gucci family, her unbridled ambition begins to unravel the family legacy and triggers a reckless spiral of betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately…murder.
EXCLUSIVE BONUS FEATURES ON BLU-RAY, DVD AND DIGITAL:
The Rise of the House of Gucci – Go behind the scenes to discover how Ridley Scott’s vision of this astonishing story fell into place.
The Lady of the House – An up-close look at Lady Gaga’s performance as Patrizia Reggiani and how her powerhouse charisma and unwavering dedication breathe life into this complex character.
Styling House of Gucci – A deep dive into the visual delights of the film, from aesthetics to attitude.
HOUSE OF GUCCI is based on a true story, one filled with wealth, power, ambition, family, tradition, high fashion, and murder, a story that plays like Italian opera, equal parts tragedy and farce. Ridley Scott directs, and the lush production stars Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons and Jared Leto.
Filled with gorgeous period clothes and cars, lovely sets and locations, mostly in Milan, and fine photography, HOUSE OF GUCCI delivers visual delights and jet-set style in this story that runs from the ’70s to the ’90s. The raw story material of a grand operatic epic is there too, but somehow HOUSE OF GUCCI never achieves epic levels, although it does make for a pretty good true crime thriller, set in a posh world of wealth and Italian fashion, with a satiric bent. HOUSE OF GUCCI was adapted from Sara Gay Forden’s non-fiction bestseller by writers Becky Johnston and Roberto Bentivegna. It is one of those story that would leave audiences skeptical if it weren’t true.
Patrizia Reggiani (Lady Gaga), the pretty young daughter of the owner of small trucking company, meets Maurizio Gucci (Adam Driver) at a party, when she mistakes him for the bartender. As soon as she hears his name, she is taken with the shy scion of the famous fashion house. Maurizio is similarly dazzled, calling her Elizabeth Taylor rather than her name. Although he is too shy to ask her out, the resourceful Patrizia finds a way through Maurizio’s armor. Although Patrizia is definitely working-class, little educated and working as a secretary for her father, while Maurizio is a scholarly law student who is not much interested in his family’s fashion business, she adds a spark of fun his life lacks. It’s love, and soon he is willing to defy his coldly aristocratic father Rodolfo Gucci (Jeremy Irons), who thinks Patricia is both low-class and a gold-digger. Dad’s not entirely wrong but his son marries her anyway, despite threats of being cut off.
Patrizia’s father (Vincent Riotta) gives the now-homeless student a job, and the pair find happiness in a little apartment. For a while the film unfolds along this path, a sexy romantic comedy, with the couple enjoying an idyll in a small apartment, Maurizio ironing his own shirts and horse-playing with co-workers.
Patrizia does her best to charm her way into the Gucci family, by building bridges. Making little headway with her chilly father-in-law, she finds a pathway with Maurizio’s uncle Aldo Gucci (Al Pacino), who shares running the family firm with his brother Rodolfo. While Rodolfo is aristocratically aloof, Aldo is warm and charming, inviting the couple to visit him in New York, and treating Patrizia to a shopping spree in the family store. He seems as much to want to befriend his niece-in-law as much she wants to be accepted as part of the Gucci family, although Aldo has his reasons for that.
Aldo invites the couple to family gathering where Patrizia meets the extended Gucci family, a sequence that is a delight of over-the-top characters and comic misadventures. Chief among those characters is Uncle Aldo’s son Paolo Gucci (an unrecognizable Jared Leto with facial prosthetics), a chubby, balding, loudly-dressed klutz who fancies himself a fashion designer. As his father puts it, more than once, “Paolo’s an idiot but he’s my idiot.”
Then this fun, romantic comedy romp gives way to something darker, a twisty crime thriller with family intrigue, drama, back-stabbing and finally murder. When Patrizia marries in, the Gucci business is very much a family business handed down through generations, a well-oiled machine with its own internal rules. Patrizia becomes the wrench in those works, sparking events that never would have happened otherwise, with consequences no one could foresee.
HOUSE OF GUCCI is certainly an entertaining film, particularly fun in the more comic earlier part. But as the film becomes darker, it stumbles a bit with that turn, with the various parts sometimes failing to mesh. At a running time of over two hours, all those moving parts need to work together for it to step up from good film to the great film it could have been.
Ridley Scott gives us actors speaking English with Italian-ish accents, set in a glorious Milan straight out of old movies. This rather tongue-in-cheek approach will amuse some audiences and irritate (or maybe even offend) others. There is a strong farcical element to the first portion, so the shift to crime thriller and tragedy almost feels like you are watching a different movie, although the satiric undercurrent is still there. Audiences might also be divided on Lady Gaga’s performance, feeling she is the best thing in the film, or the weakest link in the more problematic second part, although she is perfect in the first.
The cast is stellar, if the casting is a bit puzzling at times. Adam Driver nicely plays the awkward, shy Maurizio with a firm reserve. By contrast, Lady Gaga is splendid to start as Patrizia, a broadly-drawn character more out of “Good Fellas” than anything else, whose grammar is not great and whose cultural knowledge is seriously lacking. But she is certainly fun, as she tells Maurizio when they first meet. Plus, Gaga and Driver have an unexpected mismatch chemistry together.
Jeremy Irons is at his chilly best as Rodolfo Gucci, a cold fish who can barely manage any affection for the son he claims to adore, while living in the past with memories of his late wife and long-ago movie career. In contrast, Al Pacino as his brother is the complete opposite personality, all affection and family warmth, using charm to get what he wants. The brothers are on opposite ends of the business spectrum as well, with the New York-based Aldo eager to embrace branding and coffee mugs with the logo, while Rodolfo is about tradition and dignity for the Gucci brand.
Rodolfo relies on lawyer and advisor Domencio De Sole (Jack Huston, who has his own interesting pedigree with grandfather John Huston), who is almost family although not a Gucci. At some point, Patrizia picks up her own trusted advisor, a fortune teller, Pina Auriemma, played by Salma Hayek, although the advice is mostly ego-stroking, a fateful choice.
Where the trouble for the movie, as well as for the Gucci family, comes in is when the film takes it’s darker turn, from fun and farce to thriller and tragedy. What happens blends ambition, greed and murder, in a stranger-than-fiction true story. If you don’t know the history, it is better to just wait and watch it unfold on screen. However, whether the script that is at fault or something else, Patricia’s character seems to undergo changes that do not fit well with what went before, which seems to muddy the film as it makes this shift.
All the over-the-top events of this story, both tragic and absurd, are matched with some over-the-top performances, particularly Jared Leto. All that suggests Ridley Scott intended this film as satire. It partly succeeds as in that, as a grand, operatic one at that, although the second, tragic part feels less focused.
HOUSE OF GUCCI is an entertaining, engrossing film that mixes crime thriller with farce. While it is a good film, an enjoyable film, one can’t help but feel it could have been more. All the elements were there for a great film, starting with the true story. It just didn’t get there, although it is still worth the ticket price. HOUSE OF GUCCI opens Wednesday, Nov. 24, in theaters.
This Thanksgiving, join the family.HOUSE OF GUCCI is only in theaters November 24. Here’s the trailer:
House of Gucci is inspired by the shocking true story of the family empire behind the Italian fashion house of Gucci. Spanning three decades of love, betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately murder, we see what a name means, what it’s worth, and how far a family will go for control.
Director: Ridley Scott
Story: Becky Johnston
Based on the Book: “The House of Gucci” by Sara Gay Forden
Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Jack Huston, with Salma Hayek and Al Pacino
Rated R for language, some sexual content, and brief nudity and violence
Universal Pictures has debuted the trailer for HOUSE OF GUCCI. House of Gucci is inspired by the shocking true story of the family empire behind the Italian fashion house of Gucci. Spanning three decades of love, betrayal, decadence, revenge, and ultimately murder, we see what a name means, what it’s worth, and how far a family will go for control.
Adam Driver (Maurizio Gucci) and Lady Gaga (Patrizia Reggiani) in HOUSE OF GUCCI
Signore e Signora Gucci #HouseOfGucci
A film about the tumultuous Gucci family fashion dynasty and the murder of founder Guccio Gucci’s grandson Maurizio Gucci.
Director: Ridley Scott
Cast: Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Al Pacino, Jeremy Irons, Jared Leto, Jack Huston
Directed by Ridley Scott, and based on the book “The House Of Gucci” by Sara Gay Forden, the movie stars Lady Gaga, Adam Driver, Jared Leto, Jeremy Irons, Jack Huston, with Salma Hayek and Al Pacino.
This new A STAR IS BORN is a slow-paced and predictable melodrama that takes awfully long to get where it’s going, but Lady Gaga’s indisputable star power is in full effect and Bradley Cooper (who also directed) is bitter enough to keep things watchable. Cooper plays hard-drinking music legend Jackson Maine, who discovers struggling singer/songwriter Ally (Gaga) in a drag queen dive. They immediately and completely fall in love, a set-up to what we know is going to happen for the rest of the story – conflict. They marry and Ally’s career takes off, but the personal side of their relationship breaks down as Jackson fights ongoing battles with career downfall, booze and his own internal demons.
This story has of course been filmed several times before, but even if it hadn’t, there’s never an original moment in A STAR IS BORN. Like most show-biz dramas, there’s a noticeable loss of energy in the second half, once success catches up to our heroine and it gets lonely at the top. But there’s no denying that this is one terrifically-acted movie. As a director, Mr. Cooper is quite generous to his novice co-star. Ms Gaga is showered with close-ups and, whether you’re a fan of hers or not, you have to admire the talent and dedication she brings to the role. She sings here like her life depends on it and the camera loves her. Cooper is also superb playing the weaker half of the couple. Jackson Maine is already a wreck in the very first scene so we never witness the height of his powers, but Cooper displays a nice, unaffected looseness. The fact that he seems to handle the musical side of the movie as well is a big plus and the scenes showing Jackson’s fall – his drinking, the drugs, the unreality – are especially well-handled. An uncomfortable breakdown at Ally’s Grammy Awards triumph feels close to truth and is probably the best scene in the film. Sam Elliott’s is well-cast as Jackson’s easygoing older brother, but the real scene-stealer is Andrew Dice Clay in a meaty role as Ally’s dad, a wanna-be crooner who drives a limo. It’s his pride in his daughter’s success that gives the movie added heart. Rafi Gavron is miscast as Rez, Ally’s star-maker manager, especially weak in a last-act showdown between him and Jackson that rings false. The concert scenes feel epic and the more intimate moments shared between the leads have some nice warmth to them, but A STAR IS BORN is a mixed bag, a rambling, overfamiliar story accented by some decent songs and excellent acting.
A STAR IS BORN stars four-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper (“American Sniper,” “American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”) and multiple award-winning, Oscar-nominated music superstar Lady Gaga, in her first leading role in a major motion picture. Cooper helms the drama, marking his directorial debut.
In this new take on the tragic love story, he plays seasoned musician Jackson Maine, who discovers—and falls in love with—struggling artist Ally (Gaga). She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer… until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally’s career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.
The cast of A STAR IS BORN also includes Andrew Dice Clay, with Dave Chappelle and Sam Elliott.
Warner Bros. Pictures will release the film October 5
In addition to playing Ally, Gaga, who earned her Oscar nod for the song “Til It Happens to You” from “The Hunting Ground,” performs original songs in the film, which she wrote with Cooper and a handful of artists, including Lukas Nelson, Jason Isbell and Mark Ronson. All the music is original and was recorded live.
A STAR IS BORN is produced by Bill Gerber, Jon Peters, Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips and Lynette Howell Taylor. Ravi Mehta, Basil Iwanyk, Niija Kuykendall, Sue Kroll, Michael Rapino and Heather Parry serve as executive producers. The screenplay is by Eric Roth and Bradley Cooper & Will Fetters.
Collaborating with Cooper behind the scenes are Oscar-nominated director of photography Matthew Libatique (“Black Swan”), production designer Karen Murphy, three-time Oscar-nominated editor Jay Cassidy (“American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Into the Wild”), and costume designer Erin Benach.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, in Association with Live Nation Productions, in Association with Metro Goldwyn Mayer Pictures, A Jon Peters/Bill Gerber/Joint Effort Production, “A Star is Born.”
Filming began on Monday (April 17) on Warner Bros. Pictures’ reimagining of the musical A STAR IS BORN starring Bradley Cooper and introducing Stefani Germanotta, known across the globe as Oscar-nominated music superstar Lady Gaga, in her first leading role in a major motion picture.
Four-time Oscar nominee Bradley Cooper (“American Sniper,” “American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook”) is helming the film, marking his directorial debut.
A STAR IS BORN is being filmed entirely in Southern California and Warner Bros. Pictures has it slated for release beginning September 28, 2018.
The film is from producer Jon Peters who produced the 1976 film starring Barbra Steisand and Kris Kristofferson. Nominated for 4 Academy Awards, the movie won one Oscar for Best Music, Original Song – Barbra Streisand (music), Paul Williams (lyrics) for the song “Evergreen (Love Theme from A Star Is Born)”.
In the remake, Cooper plays Jackson Maine, a country music star who is on the brink of decline when he discovers a talented unknown named Ally (Germanotta). As the two begin a passionate love affair, Jack coaxes Ally into the spotlight, catapulting her to stardom. But as Ally’s career quickly eclipses his own, Jack finds it increasingly hard to handle his fading glory.
In addition to playing Ally, Germanotta, who earned her Oscar nod for the song “Til It Happens to You” from “The Hunting Ground,” has composed and will perform original songs in the film. The main cast also includes Andrew Dice Clay and Sam Elliott.
A STAR IS BORN is being produced by Bill Gerber, Jon Peters, Bradley Cooper, Todd Phillips and Lynette Howell Taylor; with Basil Iwanyk and Ravi Mehta serving as executive producers. The screenplay is by Will Fetters & Bradley Cooper and Eric Roth, based on a story by William A. Wellman and Robert Carson.
Collaborating with Cooper behind the scenes are Oscar-nominated director of photography Matty Libatique (“Black Swan”), production designer Karen Murphy, three-time Oscar-nominated editor Jay Cassidy (“American Hustle,” “Silver Linings Playbook,” “Into the Wild”), and costume designer Erin Benach.
Six-time Grammy-winning singer and songwriter Lady Gaga will make a special tribute performance at the 87th Oscars, show producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron announced today. The Oscars, hosted by Neil Patrick Harris, will air on Sunday, February 22, live on ABC.
“Lady Gaga is a once in a lifetime artist who’s musical evolution keeps growing. We are proud to have her perform on the Oscars for the very first time,” says Zadan and Meron.
Since breaking in 2008, Lady Gaga has sold over 27 million albums, 130 million singles, and over 4 million tickets globally to her award-winning live performances. Lady Gaga has won a total of 6 Grammy Awards – her most recent this week for Best Traditional Pop Vocal Album for Cheek To Cheek, her 2014 collaboration with Tony Bennett which debuted at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100.
The 87th Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 22, 2015, at the Dolby Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center in Hollywood, and will be televised live on the ABC Television Network at 7 p.m. ET/4 p.m. PT. The Oscars, produced by Zadan and Meron, also will be televised live in more than 225 countries and territories worldwide.
