For those that weren’t already confused by Warner Bros. and DC’s superhero movie strategy, the studio is turning things up a notch. It’s moving forward with a standalone film based around the Joker, which will star Joaquin Phoenix as the iconic villain. The as-of-yet untitled film will be directed by Todd Phillips (The Hangover, War Dogs), and will reportedly start shooting this September. “But wait,” you may be asking yourself, “wasn’t there recently news that Jared Leto was getting his own Joker movie?” Yes, in fact, there was! But you see, this is a different Joker movie, one that will reportedly be released under a different DC label than the studio’s flagship superhero movies like Justice League and Wonder Woman. Part of the idea here is for filmmakers to be able to experiment with DC’s characters: the budget for Phillips and Phoenix’s Joker film is said to be around $55 million, far below the hundreds of millions other superhero movies have to work with, with a quick turnaround planned that could put it in theaters as early as next year. An “exploration of a man disregarded by society,” the film is described as “not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.” Fun! Don’t get me wrong — doing fresh and inventive things with characters like this is certainly interesting, and given how uneven the Warner Bros. and DC films have been thus far, some sort of rethink is welcome. Unfortunately, this new film doesn’t sound like a full-fledged pivot as much as it does the beginning of a series of add-ons. Aquaman and Wonder Woman 2 are both arriving over the next 18 months, and the studio seems to ping-pong on whether Matt Reeves’ upcoming Batman film will, or won’t, be part of the broader DC cinematic continuity. All of which points to a situation that could just be downright confusing for moviegoers. Will we see multiple Jokers just years apart? Will audiences be more open to that than they were to seeing a young Han Solo just a few years after watching old Han Solo? When the broader franchise architecture seems this scattershot, do these questions even matter? It looks like audiences may be able to find out the answers for themselves starting next year.<doc-sep>Warner Bros. has given the go ahead on Todd Phillips’ “Joker” origin film with Joaquin Phoenix closing his deal to star. Variety first reported that Phoenix was in talks to play the Clown Prince of Crime. As soon as his deal was finalized, the studio gave the greenlight to a September start date with a budget in the moderate $55 million dollar range. Phillips (“The Hangover” franchise) is on board to co-write and direct. Jared Leto most recently played the Joker in “Suicide Squad.” According to insiders, the Oscar-winner will not only will be back for the “Suicide Squad” sequel, Warner Bros. is also developing his own standalone movie that will be separate from Phoenix’s Joker project. Scott Silver will join Phillips as a co-writer on the film, which will delve into what it took for the Joker to become a mastermind criminal. Sources say the story will take place in the ’80s and have more of the look of a gritty crime drama than comic-book movie. The Hollywood Reporter first reported the greenlight.<doc-sep>Earlier this week, it was confirmed that Joaquin Phoenix will be playing the Clown Prince of Crime in Todd Phillips' Joker Origin Movie and now, there are reports floating around that the story will have a pretty big Batman connection. The new rumors seem to go with the recent rumblings that the new Joker movie could have a connection to Matt Reeves' upcoming The Batman film, but that has not been confirmed at this time. As with all rumors, we'll have to take this one with a beatarang to the throat for the time being. With San Diego Comic-Con on the way, some news about Joaquin Phoenix's Joker Origin movie is expected to be announced at the convention since DC practically has Hall H to themselves this year. There have been rumors for the last several weeks that point to Robert De Niro taking on a role in the origin tale, though he is reportedly not set to play the character with the big Batman connection. The new rumor suggests that Thomas Wayne will play a pretty large part in the Joker Origin story. The report reads. "As for De Niro's role, I don't think he's playing some canon type character. I don't think he's playing like a local TV host or something like that, who's maybe broadcasting about the Joker. I'm not entirely sure. I do know that one character who's going to have a big role in this is Thomas Wayne." While it isn't clear who will be playing Thomas Wayne, it more than likely will not be Robert De Niro, according to the new report. If Bruce Wayne's father is going to be in the Joker Origin movie, how will he be utilized, especially if the part is supposed to be pretty big? It is entirely possible that the movie will also serve as an origin story for Batman as well, but with an obvious focus on the Joker. If this rumor about Thomas Wayne in the Joker Origin movie is true, this could be the tie-in to Matt Reeves' The Batman as well. A few weeks ago it was rumored that the two DC projects could be related, but it wasn't exactly explained. The main argument was that DC Films and Warner Bros. are looking for a new actor to take on the role of Bruce Wayne, so it would make sense to have him and the Clown Prince of Crime in the same world to possibly meet up later on down the line. While this Joker Origin movie news is exciting, there are many DC fans who believe that it's time to start focusing on other characters in the DC universe. There are a lot more heroes than just Batman and Superman, so why not give more of them a shot? However, those attitudes could change after the release of Joaquin Phoenix's Joker Origin movie and The Batman. You can learn more about the possibility of Thomas Wayne having a large part in the Joker Origin movie at the Collider YouTube channel.<doc-sep>
DC's spin-off movie focusing on the early life of the Joker had been rumored for some time, but this week it was finally confirmed that it was happening and that Joaquin Phoenix (Gladiator, Walk the Line) will take on the lead role. Now Phoenix has spoke about his decision to play the Clown Prince of Crime. In an interview with Collider, Phoenix spoke about his process in choosing a role, and how he was impressed by director Todd Philips. "I take a lot of time and consideration when making decisions and what I'm gonna work on, always," he said. "So, in some ways, the process, which is obviously reading a script and meeting a filmmaker and then continuing to have meetings and discussions with Todd." "I think he's very impressive and he seems to have a very interesting understanding of this world and what he's trying to say," Phoenix continued. "And so there is something very appealing about that and working with him on this particular project. It feels unique, it is its own world in some ways, and maybe, mostly, it scares the f***ing s**t out of me or something. It might as well be the thing that scares you the most." Phoenix went on to suggest that the Joker origin movie wouldn't be a standard mainstream superhero adventure. "I wouldn't quite classify this as like any genre," he said. "I wouldn't say it's a superhero movie, or a studio movie. It feels unique, and I think more than anything, and probably the most important thing, is Todd seems very passionate about it and very giving, and so that's exciting. "I think, underneath the excitement of these films, and the size of them, there are these incredible characters that are dealing with real-life struggles. And sometimes that is uncovered and exposed, and sometimes it isn't, and so I always felt, like, there were characters in comics that were really interesting and deserve the opportunity to be kind of studied. And so I think that's what Todd sees appealing about this idea." Philips is best known for the Hangover movies, and he has also co-written the script for the Joker film. This week it was reported that it will have a budget of around $55 million, which is well below what other DC movies have cost to produce. According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film is "meant to be darker and more experimental in tone and content (at least as experimental as a studio can be with established brands such as DC), which is described as being akin to a crime drama." The new Joker movie does not currently have a release date and is separate from the other one starring Jared Leto. Phoenix's movie will reportedly have no impact on Leto's portrayal of the Joker in future movies--including Suicide Squad 2 and his standalone film.