Warner Bros is reportedly offering Joaquin Phoenix $50 million for ‘Joker‘ sequels
Following the success of Joker, Warner Bros. Pictures is reportedly looking to land Joaquin Phoenix for a new Joker trilogy series.
According to reports, the studios are said to be offering the actor $50 million to reprise his role for two more movies. Despite the movie previously being a standalone project, Phoenix is rumored to be interested in playing the Joker once again and is in active negotiations. Phoenix is also active in writing for the scripts for the potential sequels.
Warner Bros. Pictures also wants to put two sequels in the next four years with Joaquin Phoenix. Director Todd Phillips and producer Bradley Cooper are also considering returning for the trilogy.
In relevant news, the Joker movie increased levels of prejudice towards people with mental illness, researchers say.
A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), which is a peer-reviewed medical journal, asserts the movie was “associated with higher levels of prejudice toward” people with mental illness.
According to the study, researchers investigated if people watching the ‘Joker’ movie had an impact on how people view others with mental illness. In the study, 84 participants complete a “28-item Prejudice Toward People With Mental Illness scale” before and after watching Joker.
“Joker was associated with higher levels of prejudice toward those with mental illness,” the study found. “Beyond prejudice, associating mental illness with violence may erode support for policies that we know to be beneficial for those with mental illness (e.g., integration into communities). Additionally, Joker may exacerbate self-stigma for those with a mental illness, leading to delays in help-seeking.”
Previously :
(January 3, 2020) ‘Joker‘ director, Todd Phillips, says he is open to making a sequel.
During Deadline’s recent ‘The Contenders New York event, ‘Joker’ director Todd Phillips said he was willing to create a sequel to the hit film.
“When a movie does $1 billion and cost $60 million to make, of course, it comes up,” he laughed. “But Joaquin and I haven’t really decided on it. We’re open. I mean, I’d love to work with him on anything, quite frankly. So who knows? But it would have to have a real thematic resonance the way this one did, ultimately being about childhood trauma and the lack of love, and the loss of empathy. All those things are really what made this movie work for us, so we’d have to have something that had an equal thematic resonance.”
This news comes after reports Warner Bros. approved a sequel, which Phillips refuted the rumors.
(Original Update: November 22, 2019) ‘Joker‘ director, Todd Phillips, shuts down rumors of a sequel.
On November 20th, the news went viral that a ‘Joker’ sequel was officially in development. A Hollywood Reporter report said ‘Joker’ director Todd Phillips received the rights to develop at least one more DC Comics origin story by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Then, on November 21st, multiple sources claimed that director Todd Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver have not signed a deal, negotiated, or even had a meeting to discuss a sequel to the movie.
Now, ‘Joker’ director spoke to IndieWire to clarify the rumors surrounding the sequel. The director confirmed that a sequel is not on the table, and the initial report “jumped the gun.”
“I can honestly say to you there was no meeting that ever happened on October 7, where I marched in,” he said. “First of all, if you know me and my career, that’s not my style. I made a huge comedy at Warner Bros., ‘The Hangover,’ and I didn’t suddenly become a comedy factory producer, like, oh, let’s just churn out movies. Bradley [Cooper] and I have a production company at Warners. I’ve been at Warners for 15, 16 years. We have two things in development at all times, not 40 things like some people. I’m not the kind of guy who goes marching in saying I want these 40 titles. I just don’t have the energy.”
Phillips also explained that he pitched Warner Bros. creating a new franchise. “When I pitched them ‘Joker,’ it wasn’t a movie, it was, let’s do a whole label. They shut that down quickly, and I get it. Who am I to walk in and start a label at a film studio? But they said, let’s do this one,” he clarified.
While the director clarified that he spoke with ‘JOker’ star Joaquin Phoenix about a sequel, there is no official contract between the studio and Phillips. Nor has he offered the lead actor to appear in a sequel. “While Joaquin and I have talked about it, and while touring the world with Warner Bros executives — going to Toronto, and Venice, and other places — of course, we’re sitting at dinner, and they’re saying, ‘So, have you thought about…?’,” he said. “But, talking about contracts, there’s not a contract for us to even write a sequel; we’ve never approached Joaquin to be in a sequel. Will that happen? Again, I just think the article was anticipatory at best.”
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