It’s really, really happening and no jest. Director Todd Phillips’ clown prince of crime movie, now officially titled “Joker,” and starring Joaquin Phoenix, is coming and it’s been given an official release date.
READ MORE: The ‘Joker’ Movie With Joaquin Phoenix Is Greenlight, Fall Shoot Confirmed
Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow will plant the film on October 4, 2019, three weeks before Halloween and the November 1 release of “Wonder Woman 84.” It’s an interesting date given superhero movies, and their spin-offs generally arrive in November if they’re coming out in the summer or earlier in the year. Then again, Sony’s “Venom” comes out October 5 of this year, but it’s generally not a month comic book movies come out (at least not in the new age of superhero movies circa “The Dark Knight” and beyond). Maybe it’ll be known for the month of comic book anti-heroes.
READ MORE: Joaquin Phoenix Says ‘Joker’ Film Is “Unique” And “Scares The F—ing S–t Out Of Me”
So far that week, “Joker” will face off against Paramount’s sci-fi movie “Gemini Man” and Fox‘s thriller “The Woman in the Window” starring Amy Adams and directed by “Pan” helmer Joe Wright.
It’s interesting that Warner and Village Roadshow didn’t save the release date announcement for Comic-Con, the WB panel like all of two days away (Saturday), but SDCC seems to be a shit show this year, but that lack of synchronicity looks really odd (and or they’re really just planning on showing “Aquaman” and not teasing anything else).
“Joker” just got the green light last week and it’ll start shooting this fall with a reported budget of around $55 million which is minuscule compared to most superhero movies. Then again, it sounds different too and as described by Warner Bros’ an “exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale.”
“Joker” is expected to be more of a crime drama and as THR says “meant to be darker and more experimental in tone.” One really hopes they don’t make the “dark and gritty” mistakes of all the films that appeared in the wake of Christopher Nolan’s Batman pictures, which tried to mimic the tone, style and “groundedness,” but just ended up with superficially brooding pictures with no substance or meaningful themes.
Curiously enough, when “Joker” was first announced, Martin Scorsese, who has a relationship with Todd Phillips, was said to be one of the executive producers on the movie, but it appears he’s bailed as no reports mention his name any longer. Perhaps he was just a good selling point to get traction.