Joaquin Phoenix’s ‘Joker’ Project to be Made for $55M, Starts Filming in Fall
A new report on the status of multiple DC Films projects has stated that director Todd Phillips’s movie showing the Joker’s origin (set outside of the shared continuity of films that includes last year’s Wonder Woman and next year’s Aquaman) will be modestly-budgeted, will star Joaquin Phoenix as the title character, and will start filming later this year.
In a new report describing the current state of affairs on future DC Films projects, The Hollywood Reporter noted that the Taxi Driver-inspired take on the Joker’s origin is going forward and is expected to release well before Jared Leto’s planned Joker movie (which is set in the shared universe) goes anywhere. However, said release window may target 2020, as the article mentions that only two DC movies are planned for 2019: Shazam! and Wonder Woman 1984. The movie’s planned budget is a modest $55M, suggesting that the story will be driven by characters and the story over visual effects and action.
What little has been rumored about the movie is that it will be set in an alternate 1980s, revisiting the character’s origin as described in Alan Moore’s iconic graphic novel Batman: The Killing Joke. To differentiate this from the DC Extended Universe’s continuity (or whatever they’ll call that now), the movie is set to be the first to use a new label, which is suggested to either be DC Black (like the recently-launched creator-focused DC Black Label used for specific DC Comics projects) or DC Dark. No other movies for this label have been announced.
The Untitled Joker Origin Movie is in development.
Grant Davis is a freelance writer who has covered entertainment news for more than seven years. His articles have frequently appeared in Star Wars News Net as well as as other entertainment-related websites. As someone who grew up on Star Wars and comic book movies, he’s completely thrilled with the current era of genre entertainment.
