Warner Bros. working on Joker spin-off movie with director Todd Phillips and producer Martin Scorsese
No, this is not an Onion headline. Yes, this is the real world.
The movie business is unpredictable. If you write about the film industry and the breaking news that comes out each and every day, whether it's professionally or as a hobby, I think it's a fairly accurate statement to say that you never really know what you'll be covering. And in today's culture, there's very little that exactly qualifies as a surprise, especially when it comes to the DC Extended Universe. But even with that in mind, today's news surprised me.
After a rough 2016 that saw Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad each receive a divisive reception from fans and critics alike, the DCEU has shown signs of life in 2017 thanks to the success of Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman. While there was skepticism abound going into the film's June release, Jenkins delivered something truly masterful, and it became a bona fide smash. Wonder Woman has grosses $800 million worldwide, and is currently the second highest grossing film of the year in the United States. But despite this brief spark, the future of DC is still on shaky ground. Justice League has been a plagued production, and Warner Bros. (the distributor of this franchise) continues to announce new DC projects like it's nobody's business, while simultaneously struggling to actually get them made.
Which brings us to today's news. In an exclusive report at Deadline, Mike Fleming reveals that Warner Bros. is working on a standalone movie centered around the most iconic of Batman villains- the Joker. This itself is not surprising. The character is one of the most bankable in the entire series, and it's practically a no-brainer to center a film around him. But here's where it gets weird. The creative roster for the film includes Hangover director Todd Phillips, 8 Mile screenwriter Scott Silver, and Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese. Yes, the guy who made some of the greatest films of all time is now producing a DC movie. Don't ask me why. There is some explanation of Scorsese's involvement from Fleming, who claims that this Joker film will not take place in any recognizable version of the DCEU, instead operating in a grungy, Taxi Driver-inspired version of Gotham set in the early 1980s. The role, most recently played by Jared Leto, will be recast for this specific version, and the film will be released under a new DC banner.
So what do I make of all of this? Well, I can't deny that I'm intrigued. On paper, this makes no sense. Scorsese and Phillips seem like the absolute wrong match for this material, and if it does end up being an origin story, that could prove disastrous. But I can't deny that there's some sense of ambition here, an attempt to make something that works outside of the DCEU altogether. To me, that makes for an interesting proposition. Here's hoping it works out.
The next DCEU film, Justice League, will debut on November 17.
Source: Deadline
Images: IMDB/WB
The movie business is unpredictable. If you write about the film industry and the breaking news that comes out each and every day, whether it's professionally or as a hobby, I think it's a fairly accurate statement to say that you never really know what you'll be covering. And in today's culture, there's very little that exactly qualifies as a surprise, especially when it comes to the DC Extended Universe. But even with that in mind, today's news surprised me.
After a rough 2016 that saw Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and Suicide Squad each receive a divisive reception from fans and critics alike, the DCEU has shown signs of life in 2017 thanks to the success of Patty Jenkins' Wonder Woman. While there was skepticism abound going into the film's June release, Jenkins delivered something truly masterful, and it became a bona fide smash. Wonder Woman has grosses $800 million worldwide, and is currently the second highest grossing film of the year in the United States. But despite this brief spark, the future of DC is still on shaky ground. Justice League has been a plagued production, and Warner Bros. (the distributor of this franchise) continues to announce new DC projects like it's nobody's business, while simultaneously struggling to actually get them made.
Which brings us to today's news. In an exclusive report at Deadline, Mike Fleming reveals that Warner Bros. is working on a standalone movie centered around the most iconic of Batman villains- the Joker. This itself is not surprising. The character is one of the most bankable in the entire series, and it's practically a no-brainer to center a film around him. But here's where it gets weird. The creative roster for the film includes Hangover director Todd Phillips, 8 Mile screenwriter Scott Silver, and Hollywood legend Martin Scorsese. Yes, the guy who made some of the greatest films of all time is now producing a DC movie. Don't ask me why. There is some explanation of Scorsese's involvement from Fleming, who claims that this Joker film will not take place in any recognizable version of the DCEU, instead operating in a grungy, Taxi Driver-inspired version of Gotham set in the early 1980s. The role, most recently played by Jared Leto, will be recast for this specific version, and the film will be released under a new DC banner.
So what do I make of all of this? Well, I can't deny that I'm intrigued. On paper, this makes no sense. Scorsese and Phillips seem like the absolute wrong match for this material, and if it does end up being an origin story, that could prove disastrous. But I can't deny that there's some sense of ambition here, an attempt to make something that works outside of the DCEU altogether. To me, that makes for an interesting proposition. Here's hoping it works out.
The next DCEU film, Justice League, will debut on November 17.
Source: Deadline
Images: IMDB/WB
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