Todd Phillips Says Joker 2 Talks Happened, No Contract Yet

DC fans got a thrill earlier this week, when it was reported that Warner Bros. was moving forward with a sequel to Joker. After critical accolades and a billion-dollar worldwide box office, it seemed only logical that Joker 2 was happening - but that announcement turned out to be premature. A conflicting report quickly dropped, disputing that Joker 2 was happening. The Internet being what it is, DC fans have been waiting to get the official word on what's going on with Joker, and a proposed line of DC villain origin films, and now Todd Phillips is addressing it.

In a new interview from Indiewire, Phillips disputes that the Joker sequel has been greenlit - while admitting that the first film's success has inevitably sparked sequel talks:

"When I pitched them 'Joker,' it wasn't a movie, it was, let's do a whole label," Phillips said. "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."

Now that the first film is such a big success, Phillips admits that talks of a sequel have only been a logical progression:

"Well, a movie doesn't make a billion dollars and they don't talk about a sequel. Joaquin and I have publicly said we've been talking about a sequel since week two of shooting because it's a fun thing to talk about. But the [THR] article was referring to other things than that that were just frankly untrue..."

So now that we've identified what about the reporting has been exaggerated - what is the actual status of a Joker sequel? According to Phillips:

"Here's the real truth about 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…?' 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."

That basically leaves us in the same place as before: A movie studio just made the most profitable comic book movie of all time, and naturally, they want a taste of more. How that "more" takes shape is still being decided - another chapter of Joker; a different DC villain origin film with an indie budget; ties between these smaller character pieces and a larger universe... Which one would you like to see happen?

Joker is now in theaters. Upcoming DC Movies include Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2020.