Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker gets a title and a release date.
Warner Bros has announced the release date of the Joker origin movie, starring actor Joaquin Phoenix in the lead. The film, which will see Phoenix transform into one of the most notorious DC supervillains, the Joker, will hit the theatres on October 4 next year, reported Variety. The studio made the announcement ahead of the start of Comic-Con and said the film has been titled, Joker. Its filming will is said to begin this fall.
To be directed by Todd Philips from a screenplay he co-wrote with writer Scott Silver, the film “centres around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of a man disregarded by society is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale,” the studio had earlier said in a statement.
It will be produced by Emma Tillinger Koskoff and executive-produced by Richard Baratta.
When asked about the role recently, Joaquin Phoenix expressed his concern over getting the iconic character right. He told Collider, “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].”
He continued, “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.”
Jared Leto will also be reprising the role of the Joker in yet another standalone of the criminal mastermind.
(With inputs from PTI)