Joker 2: Very Rare Movie Poster! Why was the Joaquin Phoenix sequel poster changed in France?

Joker 2 opens in theaters on October 2, 2024! On April 2, Warner Bros. released the movie’s poster, which shows the Clown Prince of Crime embracing a frozen Harley Quinn in dance moves.

In anticipation of the trailer, which drops on April 9, Joaquin Phoenix and Lady Gaga star in this stylized poster announcing the sequel’s bias. Indeed, music will be central to this work by Todd Phillips, which builds on the success of the first installment and its billion-dollar worldwide box office.

If you’re hungry for hidden details, you’ll notice a subtle difference between French and international posters. On the latter, we can already notice the following hook: “The world is a stage”which can be translated as “The world is a stage”. The French version decided to adapt this sentence and chose another term: “The world is a comedy”We can read on the hexagonal poster.

Joker without tobacco!

But this is not the most noticeable difference between the two posters. If you look closely at the right hand of Arthur Fleck, aka the Joker, you’ll notice the cigarette disappearing on the French version.

In the two posters, the Joker wears a fancy effect suit, abandoning the colorful colors of the first episode and his signature make-up is very much present; Nothing has been retouched except for a small cigarette of discord. If the latter has been deleted, it is due to the Evin Law in force since 1991.

To combat smoking and alcoholism, this law prohibits, among other things, all direct or indirect tobacco promotion or advertising (except on tobacco shop signs and conditions).

The Joker, the ultimate prince of crime, is therefore coerced and forced to follow the rules, shame on the agent of chaos that he is! In the film world, the list of posters censored due to Evin’s Law is numerous. Take Pulp Fiction (1994): the American poster of Quentin Tarantino’s iconic film features Uma Thurman holding a cigarette, which is deleted in the French poster.

Bradley Cooper is beyond the law

Bradley Cooper’s maestro escaped this rule recently. In the movie poster, we see the actor in a Leonard Bernstein costume holding a cigarette between his fingers. Surprisingly, the poster is indeed legal and meets the following Evin Law criteria. First of all, it comes from an advertiser that has no connection with the tobacco industry or distribution and has an exclusively cultural or artistic purpose.

In addition, the featured person is a historical character, or one whose fame is recognized (regarding people who have disappeared or not) and appears in a work of art that is an integral part of the advertising promotion of the artistic expression.

Finally, since tobacco products represented and used in cultural or artistic works must be inseparable from the image and personality of the person featured therein, which appears to be the case with Leonard Bernstein, then the poster is eligible.

Joker 2 will hit theaters on October 2, 2024. Get ready for the first trailer on April 9th!