Joker "The Joker" in development with Todd Phillips and Martin Scorsese attached? - Part 2

[Orb]

“There were times when I would go, like, ‘Look at this ****ing world, and how we lack empathy and real compassion and care,’” Phoenix says when asked if he needed to only turn on the news to help shape his portrayal. “I felt like there were things that odd and [co-writer] Scott [Silver] were touching on that were relevant to what we may be experiencing now. But I also felt like they weren’t being didactic, and they weren’t steering you towards one particular way of watching the movie, and saying, ‘This is the cause.’ To me, the Joker…”

“I’m reluctant to shape the way people view this movie," Phoenix adds. "There’s not really a right way of looking at this film. Part of what is so fascinating about the Joker is that there isn’t the specific origin. There’s not a specific catalyst. And so it allows us as a viewer to project our own ideas of discontent or whatever we feel onto the character. So yes, I think there are a lot of things that are relevant. I hope that people explore those things and talk about them. It’s a safe way to do that. But I also feel like: it’s not just that.”

Phillips, who also acts as a director on the film, agrees that Joker "is not meant to be political, but it is meant to be provocative." He continues: "I think there will be some 21-year-olds that go and watch it who just think it’s a version of a Joker story. And that’s fine, too. I don’t want to define it as this message movie, because it’s not. But it definitely is, the same way that The Dark Knight was not a message movie, but it definitely was a post-9/11 terrorist sort of ‘Oh ****…’ thing.

Snippets from TotalMag. Hopefully someone will post that whole thing when it comes out on the 23rd

 

[Jekecy]

Another snippet...about a sequel?!

“One thing I will tell you: I would do anything with Joaquin, any day of the week,” he says. “There’s nobody like him. If he was willing to do it, and if people show up to this movie, and Warners came to us and said, ‘You know what? If you guys could think of something…’ Well, I have a feeling that he and I could think of something pretty cool.”

 

[Gothamsknight]

^^ I'd love for this to happen. Chances are slim, but with this film likely to be a hit critically I'd say its very possible.

 

[Micromind]

Another snippet...about a sequel?!

“One thing I will tell you: I would do anything with Joaquin, any day of the week,” he says. “There’s nobody like him. If he was willing to do it, and if people show up to this movie, and Warners came to us and said, ‘You know what? If you guys could think of something…’ Well, I have a feeling that he and I could think of something pretty cool.”

May not be a sequel but some other project with him.

 

[Closerframe]

Keep this small and intimate. No need for a sequel.

 

[Gothamsknight]

I do have trouble imagining how a sequel to this could work but who knows

 

[TheGuy]

The sequel should have Batman as the villain.

 

[TMP98]

I think Phillips just means another film with Joaquin. As in WB would green-light another film from the two of them

 

[Gothamsknight]

^^ Starting interpret it that way myself

 

[Jekecy]

We'll have to wait for the full article for context, but I don't see how one can interpret it that way.

Todd specifically mentioned Joaquin's willingness to "it" as if it were a specific project. Plus just any random movie doesn't rely on audiences going to see Joker, or Warners going to them asking about ideas.

 

[TMP98]

Plus just any random movie doesn't rely on audiences going to see Joker, or Warners going to them asking about ideas.

WB has old school studio loyalty. Willing to do the "one for them, one for me" for creatives; if Joker's a big hit then they'll be willing to finance future, riskier dramas from the Joaq & Phillips

 

[Pennywise]

Joaquin Phoenix reveals his hesitations over playing the Joker: "There was a lot of fear" | GamesRadar+

Joaquin Phoenix doesn't work with just anybody. The Oscar-nominated actor remains relatively elusive in Hollywood, staying away from commercial blockbusters in favour of working with auteurs such as Paul Thomas Anderson (The Master, Inherent Vice), Spike Jonze (Her), and Lynne Ramsay (You Were Never Really Here). However, later this year, Phoenix will appear as the eponymous character in Joker, something he admits took some convincing to come around to doing.

“It took me a while [to commit],” Phoenix, who turned down playing both Hulk (to replace Edward Norton) and Doctor Strange for Marvel, tells Total Film, our sister publication, of taking the part. "Now, when I look back, I don’t understand why."

Why the procrastination? Was it partly fear of taking on such an iconic character, on page and screen? “There was a lot of fear, yeah,” he admits. “But I always say there’s motivating fear and debilitating fear. There’s the fear where you cannot make a ****ing step, and there’s the kind where it’s like, ‘OK, what do we do? That’s not good enough.’ And you’re digging deeper and deeper. I love that kind of fear. It guides us, makes us work harder.”



Phoenix adds that there was another reason for not taking the part. “I think oftentimes, in these movies, we have these simplified, reductive archetypes, and that allows for the audience to be distant from the character, just like we would do in real life, where it’s easy to label somebody as evil, and therefore say, ‘Well, I’m not that,’” he explains.

“And yet we all are guilty. We all have sinned. And I thought that here was this film, and these characters, where it wouldn’t be easy for you as an audience. There are times where you’re going to feel yourself connected to him, and rooting for him, and times when you should be repulsed by him. And I like that idea of challenging the audience, and challenging myself to explore a character like that. It’s rare to explore characters like that in any movies, but specifically in the superhero genre.”

For director Todd Phillips, there was only one person who could have played this version of the Joker. "We wrote this script for Joaquin. It’s true," he says. "Joaquin knows it. Half the reason we wanted to even attempt writing it was, ‘Man, imagine if we get Joaquin. Think of what we could do.’ The goal was never to introduce Joaquin Phoenix into the comic book movie universe. The goal was to introduce comic book movies into the Joaquin Phoenix universe.”

 

[Gothamsknight]

We'll have to wait for the full article for context, but I don't see how one can interpret it that way.

Todd specifically mentioned Joaquin's willingness to "it" as if it were a specific project. Plus just any random movie doesn't rely on audiences going to see Joker, or Warners going to them asking about ideas.

Yeah, thats true I guess. Im wondering at what point a sequel would take place though. like how far into the future and such

 

[Pennywise]

“I always think that the Hangover movies are as dark as ****,” Phillips tells Total Film magazine, our sister publication. “Everybody always attacks me for the Hangover movies, saying they’re nihilistic. And I’m like, ‘What do you mean? That’s what makes it funny. Nastiness is funny, if you say it right.’”

Phillips goes on to stress how the leap from alpha-male ‘banter’ to the Clown Prince of Crime is not, actually, all that far. "The whole reason I ever got into comedies is because of the subversive and irreverent nature of them," he continues. "Now, it’s very hard to make comedies and to not offend people. The world has become so touchy about so many things that it’s not fun to be funny any more. So it’s like, ‘You know what? You can have your comedies. I’m going to go over here and try this.’ Because there are other ways to be irreverent. You could take the comic- book genre and turn it on its head.”

Would post the article from GamesRadar, but there is an s-bomb in the title.

 

[Closerframe]

I know we’ve heard from countless sources that this movie is going to redefine how we look at comic book movies and how they’re made, but Phoenix’s ongoing comments about why he took on this role after much deliberation is the most exciting part. We’ve gotten relatively close to a comic book style movie told at such a fundamentally human-level with Unbreakable and Split, but to see a villain’s perspective done in such a raw way that also plays on Western societies deeper issues both past and present is refreshing. If this is as good as everyone is making it out to be, I hope Phoenix stops here and lets the film become the classic it’s aiming to become. Movies like Taxi Driver, Requiem for a Dream, and The King of Comedy (underrated) didn’t need sequels, their messages spoke for themselves.

 

[Rorschach2012]

Would post the article from GamesRadar, but there is an s-bomb in the title.

That's so silly. The hype is long overdue for a more lax policy on language. It's ridiculous. Part of me just thinks it remains in place so that C. Lee has something to get pissed about. /s

 

[Rod]

In hte snippet from TotalMag where Phoenix mentions about Joker's origins and how he wishes to keep the essence of it:

Part of what is so fascinating about the Joker is that there isn’t the specific origin. There’s not a specific catalyst. And so it allows us as a viewer to project our own ideas of discontent or whatever we feel onto the character. So yes, I think there are a lot of things that are relevant. I hope that people explore those things and talk about them. It’s a safe way to do that. But I also feel like: it’s not just that.”

If the current leaked script is to be taken as legit, I'd say this is likely the part I consider got the best solution of it all. Possibly where most comic book fans, who were concerned and fearing about this point, will end up surprised with what they came up with, just like I was. It worked really really really well and I'm pretty sure what they did will let most very satisfied, too.

 

[Hollis Mason]

New Cover!

 

[Rod]

Cool

 

[JimThompson]

Cool

That is outstanding!

 

[Gothamsknight]

Cool

Absolutely fantastic!

 

[Hollis Mason]

New Pic

 

[Gothamsknight]

Such a powerful image.

 

[Closerframe]

I really feel as if Phoenix is going to bring a duality to the Joker that has never been fully explored before. Nicholson only scratched the surface in Batman 89 with Jack prior to changing into the Joker--he was essentially the Joker before even falling into the vat of chemicals. Arthur seems like a fragile and nervous individual who is so beaten up by the world, that once he becomes the Joker, it’s like putting on a mask, but similar to Bruce/Batman, the Joker is who he truly is all along.

 

[Pennywise]