The Joaquin Phoenix/Joker movie is actually happening. THR has confirmed that Phoenix will indeed be playing the clown-terrorist in an origin film directed and co-written by Todd Phillips. Shooting is supposed to begin this fall. Phoenix will follow in the footsteps of Caesar Romero, Jack Nicholson,, Heath Ledger, and Jared Leto (who must be royally pissed this is happening).
In an interview with Collider, Phoenix is finally talking about The Joker movie. Yes, the actor has been deflecting questions about it for months, or, at least, ever since we heard the rumors he was going to play the villain.
“I take a lot of time and consideration when making decisions and what I’m gonna work on always. 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 [Phillips]. 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. 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 fucking shit out of me or something. It might as well be the thing that scares you the most.”
Phoenix says he was lured by how cheap and small the film:
“Three or four years ago, I called my agent and said ‘Why don’t they want to take one of these characters and just make a lower budget film about it, a movie but a character study, and why not take one of the villains?’ And I thought, ‘You can’t do the Joker, because, you know, it’s just you can’t do that character, it’s just been done.’ So I was trying to think of other characters, and he said ‘I’ll set up a general meeting with Warner Bros.’ And I said ‘I’m not gonna go, I can’t go to a general meeting.’ So I completely forgot about it, and so then I heard about this idea, I was like, ‘Oh that’s so exciting, that’s the kind of experience I wanted to have, with a movie based on a comic character.’ I felt like you could get something on screen.”
Rumor has it that the film might be R-rated and that it will be set in the ‘80s. Don't expect the DCEU to be connected to it:
“I wouldn’t quite classify this as like any genre. I wouldn’t say it’s a superhero movie, or a studio movie or a … It feels unique, and I think more then 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.”
Todd Phillips has been tasked in directing the Phoenix/Origin Joker flick. How did he manage to nab the job? I truly, for the life of me, have no clue. Yes, he did commendable work on "War Dogs," but Phillips' filmography consists of 95% comedy ("Frat House," "Road Trip," Old School," 'Starsky and Hutch," "School for Scoundrels," "The Hangover," "The Hangover II," "The Hangover III," and "Due Date.")