‘There’s No Contract’ For Rumoured Joker Sequel

Warner Bros.

Update: Since the time of publication, director Todd Phillips has come out and denied the October 7 meeting ever took place, disputing The Hollywood Reporter’s reporting and saying the writer ‘jumped the gun’ in an interview with IndieWire. He also insisted ‘there’s not a contract for us to even write a sequel’.

Want to hear something that will put a smile on your face? Sources have confirmed a follow-up to Joker is in the works.

According to reports, the film’s director, Todd Phillips, is likely to reunite with Joaquin Phoenix, with the two reportedly in talks about a sequel.

Not only that, but Phillips is expected to write the script alongside Scott Silver, who worked on the first movie’s screenplay.

Warner Bros.

Warner Bros. is said to already have a sequel option in place for Joaquin Phoenix – who is a strong contender for the ‘Best Actor’ category in next year’s Oscars – and so we can expect him to return as Arthur Fleck.

Sources told The Hollywood Reporter Phillips was initially in discussions with Warner Bros. Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich to develop a range of DC characters’ origin stories.

After pitching the idea in a meeting on October 7 – i.e. immediately after the film’s multi million-dollar opening weekend – it got turned down. However, it’s said he emerged from the meeting with the rights to make one other DC story.

Warner Bros

For those of you wondering what kind of sequel might be in the works, wonder no longer because Phillips has previously hinted at what he might do.

The director told the Los Angeles Times it couldn’t just be ‘this wild and crazy movie’ about the Joker, adding: ‘It would have to have some thematic resonance in a similar way that this does.’

When you think about the film’s success, it’s really no wonder a follow-up is in the works; Joker was brilliantly received even before its release, receiving an eight-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival.

It soon overtook Deadpool to become the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, and just last week the film crossed the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, becoming the first R-rated film ever to do so.

In fact, Joker marks only the fourth DC title to cross the $1 billion mark, following in the footsteps of Aquaman ($1.15 billion), The Dark Knight Rises ($1.08 billion) and The Dark Knight ($1 billion).

And with a budget of $62.5 million – far less than the prior-mentioned films – Joker has managed to become the most profitable comicbook movie of all time too.

Making that feat even more impressive is the fact that the film hasn’t even been released in China yet – and doesn’t look set to do so, either – so these statistics are missing from one of the key markets.

Warner Bros.

If that bit of news hasn’t put a smile on your face, I don’t know what will.

Joker is in cinemas now.

If you have a story you want to tell, send it to UNILAD via [email protected]

Lucy Connolly

A Broadcast Journalism Masters graduate who went on to achieve an NCTJ level 3 Diploma in Journalism, Lucy has done stints at ITV, BBC Inside Out and Key 103. While working as a journalist for UNILAD, Lucy has reported on breaking news stories while also writing features about mental health, cervical screening awareness, and Little Mix (who she is unapologetically obsessed with).