Robert De Niro in talks to star in Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker solo movie

Legendary American actor Robert De Niro is in negotiations to join Warner Bros.' upcoming Joker origin movie. De Niro is likely to play a talk show host who is somehow instrumental in the Joker's origin, reported the Hollywood Reporter.

Apart from De Niro, Deadpool 2 actor Zazie Beetz is also in talks to join lead Joaquin Phoenix in the anticipated film.

De Niro was cast as the young Vito Corleone in the 1974 film The Godfather Part II, for which he won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.

He received the AFI Life Achievement Award in 2003, the Golden Globe Cecil B. DeMille Award in 2010, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2016.

Joaquin Phoenix attends Amazon Studios premiere of Don't Worry, He Wont Get Far On Foot at ArcLight Hollywood. (AFP)

He has directed and starred in films such as the crime drama A Bronx Tale (1993) and the spy film The Good Shepherd (2006).

Believed to be independent of the DC Extended Universe of film, which includes Batman v Superman and Justice League, the Joker movie is being described as a dark character study.

The project will be a stand-alone picture for the Batman nemesis Joker with a budget of $55 million and will be directed by The Hangover’s Todd Phillips. The film is said to be inspired by Martin Scorsese’s The King of Comedy, which also starred Robert De Niro.

The Warner Bros. film is scheduled to release on October 4, 2019.

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