Joker Director Would Love to Do a Photo Book of the Movie’s Behind-the-Scenes Photos

Todd Phillips’ Joker movie won’t hit theaters until October, but fans have already gotten a handful of glimpses of the upcoming film thanks to various behind-the-scenes photos Phillips has shared on Instagram. The stunning images are likely only a handful of shots documenting the process of bringing Joker to life and it sounds like if Phillips has his way, fans will get to see even more of those photos. He’s indicated that he would love to do a photo book of those behind-the-scenes images.

On Sunday, Phillips shared on Instagram a new behind-the-scenes photo from Joker showcasing star Joaquin Phoenix painting his face white while in front of multiple mirrors. The striking image quickly caught the attention of fans, including comics artist Lee Bermejo who illustrated the 2008 Joker graphic novel. Bermejo commented, hoping there is a photo book in the works to share the still images and Phillips replied that he’d love to see that happen, complimenting photographer Niko Tavernise’s work in the process.

Starring Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a failed stand-up comedian who ultimately descends into madness, Joker is an origin story for the iconic Batman villain, one that will explore the psyche of the Clown Prince of Crime in a similar vein to that of original graphic novels Joker and The Killing Joke. This approach takes the film a bit outside of the standard superhero genre.

“I wouldn’t quite classify this as like any genre,” Phoenix said in an interview last year. “I wouldn’t say it’s a superhero movie, or a studio movie or a … It feels unique, and I think more than 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.”

“I take a lot of time and consideration when making decisions and what I’m gonna work on, always.” Phoenix added. “So, in some ways, the process, which is obviously reading a script and meeting a filmmaker and then continuing to have meetings and discussions with Todd [Phillips]. I think he’s very impressive and he seems to have a very interesting understanding of this world and what he’s trying to say. And so there is something very appealing about that and working with him on this particular project. It feels unique, it is its own world in some ways, and maybe, mostly, it scares the f-cking sh-t out of me or something. It might as well be the thing that scares you the most.”

Joker, starring Phoenix along with Zazie Beetz, Robert De Niro, Frances Conroy, Marc Maron, and Brian Tyree Henry, opens in theaters October 4.