Todd Phillips, director of the Joaquin Phoenix starrer Joker has reportedly begun work on the sequel of the blockbuster. The director has also met Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman, Toby Emmerich for a deal to acquire the rights to develop a portfolio of DC characters’ origin stories, according to The Hollywood Reporter, which broke this story.
“Warner Bros. is very protective of the DC canon. And all other DC deals have been for one film, and one film only. But Phillips did emerge from the meeting with the rights to at least one other DC story, sources say. And now that Joker has crossed the $1 billion mark, a sequel is on the way. As the movie keeps raking in money overseas, Phillips is in talks to reprise his role as director for a second Joker outing (he and Scott Silver, who penned the gritty Joker screenplay, will write the follow-up), THR has learned,” reported The Hollywood Reporter.
Joaquin Phoenix, who played ‘Joker’, a clown with a mental illness impressed audiences with his outstanding performance and is believed to have emerged as a leading contendor for the ‘Best Actor’ award at the Oscars. The film (spoiler alert) ended with the revelation that Bruce Wayne a.k.a Batman is the half-brother of Joker. Though it could all well turn out to be untrue, as it is based on a letter written by Penny Fleck, Joker’s mother character in the film, who too is mentally unstable. Joker’s plan of action after the commotion he creates in Gotham city was also left as a cliffhanger.
The Hollywood Reporter article also confirmed that Todd wouldn’t be exploring Batman’s backstory in the sequel, leaving that task solely in the hands of writer-director Matt Reeves, whose The Batman, starring Robert Pattinson, is coming to theaters June 25, 2021.
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Watch the trailer of Joker here.
