‘Joker’ Reportedly Begins Filming in Two Weeks

It looks like DC Films’ latest big-screen adventure could begin rolling very soon.

According to a new tweet from The Wrap’s Umberto Gonzalez, the upcoming Joker origin movie will reportedly begin production in two weeks. This would place the start date for sometime around September 10th, keeping on track with the “early fall” production start that was previously teased.

While the concept of Joker initially confused fans when it was first announced, plenty have come around to the project, which is set to be a low-budget film outside of the main DC Extended Universe continuity. The 80s-set, potentially R-rated film will see the Joker (Joaquin Phoenix) begin as a stand-up comedian, who turns to a life of crime and madness after a particularly bad performance.

“I wouldn’t quite classify this as like any genre,” Phoenix said in a recent interview. “I wouldn’t say it’s a superhero movie, or a studio movie or a … It feels unique, and I think more then anything, and probably the most important thing, is Todd seems very passionate about it and very giving, and so that’s exciting. I think, underneath the excitement of these films, and the size of them, there are these incredible characters that are dealing with real life struggles. And sometimes that is uncovered and exposed, and sometimes it isn’t, and so I always felt, like, there were characters in comics that were really interesting and deserve the opportunity to be kind of studied. And so I think that’s what Todd sees appealing about this idea.”

Joker is being directed by The Hangover and Due Date‘s Todd Phillips and executive produced by Martin Scorsese. In addition to Phoenix, the film will star Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, and Marc Maron. And as it turns out, Phoenix has had that sort of idea kicking around in his head for quite some time.

“Three or four years ago, I called my agent and said ‘Why don’t they want to take one of these characters and just make a lower budget film about it, a movie but a character study, and why not take one of the villains?’” Phoenix revealed in a recent interview. “And I thought, ‘You can’t do the Joker, because, you know, it’s just you can’t do that character, it’s just been done.’ So I was trying to think of other characters, and he said ‘I’ll set up a general meeting with Warner Bros.‘ And I said ‘I’m not gonna go, I can’t go to a general meeting.’ So I completely forgot about it, and so then I heard about this idea, I was like, ‘Oh that’s so exciting, that’s the kind of experience I wanted to have, with a movie based on a comic character.’ I felt like you could get something on screen.”

Are you excited to see Joker begin production in the coming weeks? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Joker is expected to debut in theaters on October 4, 2019. Upcoming DC Extended Universe films include Aquaman on December 21st, Shazam on April 5, 2019, and Wonder Woman 2 on November 1, 2019.