Joaquin Phoenix has been confirmed to play the Joker in a standalone film based on the popular DC Comics character and Batman nemesis, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
8 Mile (2002) screenwriter Scott Silver has written the film, while Martin Scorsese is one of the producers. Todd Philips (The Hangover, War Dogs) will co-write and direct the film. The film will be produced by Warner Bros’ DC Entertainment and may be launched under a new label that could be called “DC Dark” or “DC Black”, said The Hollywood Reporter. These are all a part of changes being introduced to DC Entertainment under its new president, Walter Hamada, said the publication.
The film will reportedly be a hard-boiled crime film set in Gotham City in the 1980s, reminiscent of quintessential Scorsese’s films like Taxi Driver (1976) and Raging Bull (1980), Deadline reported last year. It has a reported budgeted of around $55 million, far less than the cost of most recent superhero films, and will trace the Joker’s back story. Production is slated to begin this autumn.
Another standalone Joker movie is also in the works for Warner Bros, starring Jared Leto, who had first played the role in David Ayer’s much-maligned Suicide Squad (2016).