More than a year ago, “Joker” arrived in theaters. The film would open with more than $96 million domestically, and by the end of its box office run, Todd Phillips’ R-rated superhero feature would bring in more than $1 billion around the world. That doesn’t even take into consideration the critical acclaim and awards recognition, including Joaquin Phoenix’s Oscar win. All that to say, the film was a bright spot in Warner Bros.’ year and one of the most successful superhero films of all time. But a new report suggests that Warner Bros. didn’t really want the film to be made, to begin with. Or at least studio chairman Toby Emmerich didn’t.
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In a report from THR talking about the recent decision by WarnerMedia to send WB’s 2021 film slate to HBO Max the same time the films arrive in theaters, there is a suggestion that Toby Emmerich was not a fan of “Joker” and never wanted the film to get made.
The report claims that Emmerich was never interested in releasing “Joker” and actually cut the budget to discourage Todd Phillips from making the film. However, as we know, Phillips was not deterred and still wanted to bring “Joker” to the big screen, so Emmerich sold off half of the movie to another partner studio and begrudgingly went into production. In fact, it’s reported that the biggest cheerleader for getting “Joker” made was worldwide marketing president Blair Rich, who actually isn’t with WB any longer. You can infer from that whatever you please.
Needless to say, it seems as if “Joker” wasn’t just an outsider film that shocked everyone with its critical and box office success. It’s a film that the head of WB wasn’t even rooting for and somehow succeeded in spite of Emmerich’s best efforts to make sure the feature wasn’t even going to be produced. Say what you will about the content of “Joker” and its cultural significance, but you can’t deny the persistence by Phillips is admirable.
And what if this HBO Max precedent was already in place last year? Would “Joker” have even been put into theaters or would Emmerich send it off to the streaming service? Makes you wonder what might happen to films like “Dune,” “Godzilla vs. Kong,” “Judas and the Black Messiah,” “Matrix 4,” and the dozen or so other films that are receiving that fate in 2021.