Although principal photography isn’t scheduled to get underway until later this month, production on the Joker origin film might’ve already commenced. Early this afternoon, the man who’ll be behind the camera for WB on the pic, Todd Phillips, took to social media and posted the below black and white photo of himself, beclouded in cigarette smoke, alongside the caption: “Here we go.”
Obviously, it should go without saying, but until we receive confirmation from the studio it’d be best to take this “announcement” with a grain of salt. However, if, in fact, the Joker origin film has indeed commenced principal photography, it would join Wonder Woman 1984 as the only other DC project currently in production.
That said, Diana of Themyscira is working with a much bigger budget than the Clown Prince of Crime, as the latter will reportedly have a price tag of only $55 million which, ultimately, shouldn’t be too surprising. After all, Joker is believed to be headed toward an R-rating, putting the forecast more in line with the crime drama tag affixed to the project.
Circling back to Todd Phillips though, who’s been attached to the project for over a year, and the Academy Award nominee will be working from a script penned by fellow Academy Award nominee Scott Silver (The Fighter), not to mention having the pleasure of directing three-time Academy Award nominee Joaquin Phoenix – who, by the way, was spotted out and about recently, looking far more trim than we’re used to seeing him.
Slated for a release sometime in 2019, Joker, starring Phoenix as the titular jester, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy and Marc Maron, certainly has all the makings of a sharp picture, and we can’t wait to see what DC and WB have in store for us.