I read about this movie news yesterday and I’m still more than a little stunned. The article is by Mike Fleming Jr. and its presented on deadline.com:
The Joker Origin Story On Deck: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver, Martin Scorsese Aboard WB/DC Film
Todd Phillips is probably best known as the director of the three The Hangover films (he was also the writer of the later two in the series, which were IMHO quite horrid).
Scott Silver is mostly known as a writer and his most successful project was 8 Mile.
Martin Scorsese, on the other hand, needs no introduction, being the acclaimed director of such seminal films as Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and, more recently, The Wolf of Wall Street.
So the article above states that these three individuals have gotten together to make a Joker “stand alone” film which explores Batman’s arch-villain’s origin. Mr. Scorsese, it is implied, will serve as a producer and not direct.
Now, a few points regarding this article:
- How freaking insane does that trio of individuals coming together to make a Joker film (of all things!) sounds?
- Is it really wise to make a Joker film without Batman?
- What exactly will the tone of this film be? The article indicates the film will be “hard boiled” yet at least one of these three individuals is known for comedies.
- It is stated the film will lie outside the other movie continuity, which seems to indicate we won’t have Jaret Leto playing the character. Given we have Martin Scorsese involved, can Leonardo DiCaprio be far behind?
- I repeat: How freaking insane does this sound?!?
When I read the original article, my first move was to check the calendar.
Yesterday, alas, was not April 1st.
Over on various comment boards some people far more clever than I wrote that this sounded like a movie version of Mad Libs.
I agree.
Will this film ever get made?
I wonder.
And if it does, will it be any good?
We’ll just have to wait and see, won’t we?