It seems that — surprise — money talks in Hollywood. Despite the controversy surrounding it and the mixed critical reception it received, Todd Phillips’s Joker already has a sequel in the works, according to The Hollywood Reporter . The film cracked $1 billion last week, making it the first R-rated film to do so.
Joaquin Phoenix, who played the title role and could be in Oscar contention, is likely to return for the sequel, as Warner Bros. has an option on the actor.
If Joker didn’t somehow inspire you to run guffawing down a set of stairs in the Bronx to the tune of Gary Glitter’s “Rock and Roll Part 2,” then you might not be thrilled to hear Phillips has more origin stories in mind.
The director, whose previous claim to fame was the Hangover trilogy, apparently proposed an entire “portfolio” of DC characters to explore in similarly toned stand-alone films. According to THR , he was given the rights to develop “at least one other DC story.”
Lex Luthor, anyone?
Phillips recently toldthe L.A. Times that he shot Joker without a sequel in mind. But that if he did do it, it would have to have “some thematic resonance.”
“It couldn’t just be this wild and crazy movie about the ‘Clown Prince of Crime,'” he said. “It would have to have some thematic resonance in a similar way that ( Joker ) does. Because I think that’s ultimately why the movie connected, it’s what’s going on underneath. So many movies are about the spark, and this is about the powder. If you could capture that again in a real way, that would be interesting.”
In an odd turn of events, however, Deadline reported just hours after THR shared their exclusive that, actually, there are no plans for a sequel. One look at these numbers, however, and a second part seems inevitable.
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