‘The Joker’ Origin Movie Will Be Low Budget, Begins Shooting This Fall

Despite Jared Leto getting his own standalone Joker film, it looks as though the origin movie from director Todd Phillips is still moving along nicely, and Warner Bros. is expecting to begin production as early as this fall.

Earlier today, THR released a new report about Walter Hamada’s new direction for the DC films at Warner Bros., and included some information about the studio’s plans with the franchise moving forward. Being one of the biggest talking points of the entire DC film universe, it was no surprise that the Joker was brought up.

According to THR, there are indeed two Joker movies in development. One of them, as revealed earlier this month, will see Leto reprise his role from Suicide Squad in a standalone film about the character. The other is the Phillips project, which has been talked about for some time.

Starring Joaquin Phoenix as the Clown Prince of Crime, and produced by Martin Scorsese, this movie will be a dark and gritty version of the character that shows his origins as a villain. The 1980s-set film will reportedly launch under a newly-branded film banner.

The report also states that this Joker movie is set to begin filming sometime this fall, and the budget is said to be in the region of $55 million. As you can imagine, this budget it much less than many other comic book adaptations, but the noir-style film is meant to be a more ground, realistic take on Joker than we’ve seen in the past. It probably won’t be as extravagant as films like The Dark Knight, Wonder Woman, or Aquaman.

With that sort of budget in mind, it seems extremely likely that Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment could receive significant returns once the film hits theaters.

Do you think Todd Phillips’ Joker movie is a good idea? Is Joaquin Phoenix the right actor for the role? Let us know what you think in the comments below!