It was released yesterday that Joaquin Phoenix is confirmed and the green light has been given for the Joker origin film. There’s no release date yet, but it could be as early as 2019.
Warner Bros. is taking a pretty big leap in doing a range of “Elseworlds-style” films that won’t be connected to the DCEU. The first of these Elseworlds films is the Joker origin film. That explains why Jared Leto won’t be returning for this one. Over the last month, it has been reported that the film has a budget of $55 million, in total contrast to a typical superhero film. This is The Joker we’re talking about, however. He doesn’t do anything short of a spectacle. There were also rumors that filming would be starting as early as September of this year.
All those rumors? Well, it looks like they weren’t rumors. Warner Bros. has confirmed that Todd Phillips is signed on as the director. Phillips also co-wrote the script with Scott Silver. The studio describes the film as an “exploration of a man disregarded by society that is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale.”
Details other than what we have is scarce since the only “origin story” we have is The Killing Joke. The closest the film industry has ever come to a Joker origin is the interpretation of Jack Napier to Joker in Tim Burton’s 1989 film. The recent character descriptions seem to suggest that the film will be inspired by the original story of Joker’s inception with Victor Hugo’s The Man Who Laughs.
The has also been recent rumors that the film will tie into Matt Reeves’ The Batman since his script will be focusing on a younger Batman. The timing of the announcement couldn’t come at a better time since it suggests that there will be even more information at SDCC. The WB panel is expected to focus the Aquaman film, as well as others in the works like Shazam! and Wonder Woman 1984.
Great job catching the world’s attention to drop some major news DC.
