If The Joker has always been your favourite DC villain, then this news will put a real big smile on your face.
Warner Bros. and DC Comics are in the early stages of developing an origin film for Batman’s longtime nemesis, The Joker. According to Deadline, “The Hangover” helmer Todd Phillips will direct and co-write the script with Scott Silver (of “8 Miles” and “The Finest Hours” fame).
The Joker film will be the first project under a still-developing Warner Bros. banner, which aims to expand the DC canon with storylines revolving around different characters. Although Deadline reported that “Silence” director Martin Scorsese will produce it with Phillips, The Hollywood Reporter stated that “his involvement is far from assured”.
No title or release date has been announced, nor is there an actor involved to portray the iconic supervillain. The role was previously played by Heath Ledger, who won an Oscar for “The Dark Knight” (2008), and most recently Jared Leto in “Suicide Squad” (2016).
Although Leto will reprise the role in the “Suicide Squad” sequel and the Harley Quinn spin-off, the origin movie will star a different (and possible younger) actor. Reports also claim that the story is set in Gotham City in the early 1980s.
Sources: Coming Soon, Deadline, The Hollywood Reporter / Featured image: Movie Pilot.
