One of the most interesting films heading our way in the near future is The Hangover and Old School director Todd Phillip’s gritty Joker origin film starring Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, and Marc Maron.
First announced in summer 2017, the movie began filming in September, and director Todd Phillips has confirmed that the Joker production has wrapped with the following social media post that’s giving off some major Arkham Asylum vibes.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BrgpB31hGGx/
Joker marks an outlier and a bit of a gamble for Warner Bros. as it was greenlit earlier this year as a standalone take on the titular Batman villain. Joaquin Phoenix fills the titular role, but Phillips’ idea was to craft a wholly original, lower-budget film that could potentially serve as a one-off.
Philips’ vision is one in the vein of Taxi Driver. A hard-boiled, gritty NYC story set in the 1980s that follows “a man disregarded by society” in a story that is “not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale.” Even Phoenix’s Joker makeup is unique, which is tough to accomplish in the wake of Heath Ledger’s iconic take on the character. Phillips wrote the script alongside Scott Silver.
