Academy Award-nominee Joaquin Phoenix has closed a deal to play DC’s iconic Clown Prince of Crime, The Joker in his very own standalone movie.
The movie will be a spinoff origin film that is set to take place outside the current DCEU which already featured interconnected movies like “Suicide Squad”, “Wonder Woman” and “Justice League”.
Warner Bros. and DC will reportedly launch an entirely new production banner potentially called DC Dark or DC Black to separate certain features from the DCEU so that they are able to explore to different type of stories without being tied up to the DCEU continuity.
Directed by Todd Phillips, the movie shoot is set to begin in September in New York. Phillips will also be co-writing the script with Scott Silver which described the movie as an “exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale.”
Meanwhile, another potential Joker movie starring Jared Leto is reportedly in the works as well. The movie will be separate from Phoenix’s Joker project, but is expected to take place in the same universe as “Justice League” and “Suicide Squad”.
Sources: Movie Web, First Post, The Hollywood Reporter.
