Todd Phillips introduced the Oscar-nominated actor Joaquin Phoenix as Batman’s biggest rival, Joker, in the 2019 psychological thriller. The origin story of the DC villain rocked the box office with over $1 billion worldwide collection. Critics also applauded the movie for skillfully addressing intricate themes with extreme simplicity.
However, before the 2019 psychological thriller became one of the highest-grossing DC films, the filmmaker had a hard time convincing the studio to green-lit the movie. The Hangover director opened up about the struggles of developing the movie during an interview with the Los Angeles Times.
Todd Phillips Had a Hard Time Persuading Executives For Joker
During an interview with the Los Angeles Times, Todd Phillips opened up about how it took him over a year to convince the studio executive to agree with his vision for Joker’s origin story. Warner Bros. was reportedly hesitant about the movie due to its mature theme. The director revealed,
“It was a year-long process from when we finished the script just to get the new people on board with this vision, because I pitched it to an entirely different team than made it.”
He further shared that the studio was not ready to move ahead with its production. The filmmaker claimed that it was even more frustrating to receive emails that said, “You realize we sell Joker pajamas at Target.”
However, producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff shared that they were able to move ahead with the production once everyone was on the same page. However, it is believed that the studio was still cautious of the 2019 film as it was given a limited budget of $55 million.
Joker Became the First R-rated Movie to Enter $1 Billion Movie Club
A month after its release, the Joaquin Phoenix starrer Joker became the first ever R-rated film to gross $1 billion at the box office. Grossing over a billion dollars on a budget of $62.5 million, the movie also became the most profitable superhero movie of all time.
While the movie did receive backlash for the way it depicted violence, it hardly impacted its performance at the box office. Phoenix received widespread acclaim for his portrayal of Joker and even won his first Academy Award for Best Actor. Apart from Best Actor, the movie also won the Oscar for Best Original Score among its 11 nominations. Todd Phillips is currently working on a sequel to the 2019 film with Phoenix and Lady Gaga.
Joker is available on Max.
Joker 2 is set to release on 4 October 2024.
Source: Los Angeles Times
