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Joaquin Phoenix is the newest adaptation of the Joker in Todd Phillips’ upcoming movie for the Clown Prince of Crime, and we’re obsessed with it.
The 1980’s-set origin movie is scheduled to hit theaters on Oct. 4, 2019. But Phillips has already given us our first look at the gloriously terrifying Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker. Phillips posted a screen test on his Instagram last week revealing what the character will look like in full clown attire.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ke6DoZucws0[/embedyt]
At first we see a harmless looking man, with his hands stuffed in the pockets of his jacket while “Laughing” by Guess Who plays in the background. But as a jarring projection of a clown flashes across Phoenix’s face, he boyishly grins, revealing the Jester of Genocide
in full clown makeup.
Similar to Jared Leto’s portrayal of the Joker, Phoenix gave the Prince of Crime a drastic redesign, but it works in the best way possible. It’s slightly reminiscent of fan-favorite Heath Ledger’s Joker, due to the crudely applied face paint, while also taking inspiration from the serial killer John Wayne Gacy. This comes together to create the perfectly terrifying look of a maniacal killer who is a shell of the man he once was.
Warner Bros described the film as a gritty story of a man named Arthur that is an “exploration of a man disregarded by society that is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.” Phillips’ origin movie was finalized by Warner Bros earlier this month, and they set a September start date with a modest $55 million budget. The film is set to star Robert De Niro, Marc Maron, and the Deadpool 2 actress, Zazie Beetz.
Since the release of the screen test, Phillips has also released his own on-set photos to retaliate against the paparazzi who leaked footage of Phoenix in the classic Joker attire. To which Phillips responded: “Here’s the issue. We have paparazzi all over our set, at every turn. And it bums me out that they constantly put out their bad shots. So I figure, may as well put out some good ones.”
Phillips posted a picture earlier this week on his Instagram of a solemn Joaquin Phoenix sitting on set equipment, wearing a classic 1950’s clown suit. This is a completely different look than we’ve seen so far from Phoenix’s Joker, and it could give us a little insight for the Joker’s backstory. This photo seemingly plays hand and hand with leaked footage of Phoenix as Arthur, being pushed out the backdoor of an amusement park by a man dressed similarly to Phoenix in Phillips’ Instagram post. The men proceed to argue, and Phoenix grabs the man’s rubber clown nose, and throws it into the street. This could hint that Arthur previously worked at an amusement park as a clown before he fully transitioned as the Joker.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZyMEmX8vRg[/embedyt]
A second clip was also leaked by TMZ, taking place in an NYC subway station. The leaked footage shows Joaquin exiting a train fully clowned up, followed by a gang of masked criminals. The criminals proceed to terrorize nearby onlookers as Joaquin gleefully walks away, with a stride in his step.
[embedyt] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vaD5t2JzwdU[/embedyt]
While all this news about a new Joker got us excited, it immediately stopped with new details arising about a follow-up film to David Ayer’s Suicide Squad. Jared Leto and Margot Robbie are set to reprise their roles as the Joker and Harley Quinn for this film in the works. Written by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, the movie is said to be a mixture of Bad Santaand This Is Us, both projects that the pair helped to write and produce. In an interview for Metro, Ficarra explained “We were doing a relationship movie but with the sensibility of a Bad Santa, f—ed up, mentally deranged people. It was a lot of fun.”
While a mixture of Bad Santa and This Is Us doesn’t sound like the best combination, Ficarra further explains the idea by describing the opening scene of the movie. “The whole thing starts with Harley kidnapping Dr. Phil. Played by Dr. Phil, hopefully. Because her and the Joker are having problems with their relationship.” With Suicide Squadscoring a 28% on Rotten Tomatoes, we don’t necessarily have the highest of hopes for this film. Especially if Dr. Phil is one of the incentives to go see it. While the script has already been handed in, Ficarra explains that he doesn’t know when they are going to start filming. So, there is a possibility we won’t even see this version of the movie.
Let us know which Joker movie you’re more excited for!
