Joker’s been a huge success for DC and for Joaquin Phoenix, but perhaps most of all it’s been a huge win for its director and co-writer, Todd Phillips. The Hangover trilogy alum took a (relatively) big risk with making a dark and gritty comic book movie that features close to zero comic book movie tropes. Phillips has denied that he’s already at work on a sequel, but according to Forbes, DC has reportedly given him “proverbial permission to dabble with at least one more DC origin story.”
There’s no details on who that would be, or even if it would be another villain or possibly even a hero. (Also maybe this will come to naught.) Maybe he’ll do some renegade version of the Riddler, where he’s some loner whose passion for crossword and Sudoku goes too far. Or maybe we’ll get an Aquaman where’s he’s just an anguished dude who’s really good at holding his breath underwater. The world’s Phillips’ oyster!
In other news, Joker hit another box office milestone, sort of: Worldwide it’s now grossed $1.2 billion, which is not exactly a marker worth celebrating but which is impressive nonetheless for a movie that some thought would inspire real world violence. DC and Warner Bros., who released it, are not the only ones profiting; Phillips worked out a deal where he received part of the grosses, which means this nice boy who went to NYU has himself $100 million from this picture alone. Here’s to thinking outside the box while working with incredibly popular IP!
(Via Forbes)
