Anticipation over Lady Gaga’s appearance in the upcoming Joker movie proved too much for one fan who had an epic meltdown when a New York theater failed to show the latest trailer for it.
The man failed to see the funny side at the IFC Center on Sixth Avenue, tearing into box office staff after apparently sitting through a reel which did not include the newly released promo.
‘If you don’t give me a f***ing refund, I swear to God,’ he stormed while clutching a soda and a bag of popcorn.
‘There’s 30 min of trailers. I wanted the Joker, I wanted to see Lady Gaga in the Joker trailer.
‘Give me a f***ing… I will call the police on you.’
Excitement has been building over ‘Joker: Folie à Deux’ since the first trailer achieved 167 million views in its first 24 hours after its release in April, a record for a Warner Bros. film.
The latest trailer, released last week, shows antihero Arthur Fleck in a clinch with Harly Quinn, played by Gaga and has already attracted 23 million views on YouTube.
But the prospect of watching it on the platform seemingly did not appeal to the film fan during his protest outside the theater in New York’s West Village, in a video that has attracted its own legion of fans.
‘In fairness I was livid when mine didn’t play the new trailer and played the teaser instead,’ wrote one.
‘Bros got his priorities straight,’ added another.
‘Lemme guess, they showed the Nicole Kidman trailer again huh?’ quipped a third.
Some fans were furious when it was revealed that the sequel to 2019’s Joker was a musical, but others were delighted at the prospect of seeing the Poker Face singer join Joaquin Phoenix in some musical numbers.
She plays a fellow asylum inmate who forms a deadly romantic relationship with the Joker, with casting director Francine Maisler promising one audience of film fans she is ‘going to blow your mind’.
As their infatuation for each other deepens, Arthur’s deranged followers — who witnessed him murder the late-night television host Murray Franklin (Robert De Niro) in the first film — take to the streets in hopes of allowing him to subject Gotham to even more destruction.
‘I will tell you, (Gaga’s) really surprising, and really good,’ Maisler said at the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival in the Czech Republic last month.
‘I mean, we all knew what she could do in A Star Is Born, but I thought, ‘Oh, well, that’s kind of in her wheelhouse’, Something she could do and just be real.
‘But this… Man, she’s good. Joaquin blows your mind, but that she could keep up with him, and be real — and not just wiped off the screen by what that role is and what the performance is — shows she’s good.’
The first Joker film — which became the first theatrical Batman film to earn an R rating — took a far darker and less cartoonish approach to the title character than most previous depictions of the villain.
It was well-reviewed by critics, and it became a massive financial success, grossing $1.079 billion against a relatively modest budget of $55 million, according to Box Office Mojo.
Its sequel will premiere at the 81st Venice International Film Festival, before it goes on general release in the US on October 2.
Some film fans suspected a spoof after the Gaga fan’s New York meltdown, suggesting that the independent cinema was unlikely to show the Joker 2 trailer in any circumstances.
‘They show classic, indie and foreign language movies. Not 20-30 minute blocks of trailers,’ wrote one.
‘The correct answer from the theater owner is ‘You’re now banned from this establishment. If you step foot on our property again we’ll call the police and have you arrested for trespassing’,’ suggested another.
Dailymail.com has reached out to the IFC Centre for comment.