Early this morning that a Tatiana Siegel Hollywood Reporter story appeared about Joker futures, and specifically about (a) a Phillips-directed Joker sequel starring Joaquin Pheonix being “likely” and (b) a story that six weeks ago (or on 10.7) Phillips met with WB Pictures Group chairman Toby Emmerich to pitch “a portfolio of DC characters’ origin stories.”
An hour ago a source close to the orbit of Joker director Todd Phillips told me that Siegel “got it wrong — it was anticipatory at best.”
By “wrong” he didn’t mean that a Joker sequel led by Phillips and Phoenix won’t happen — it would be bizarre if it didn’t — but the part about Phillips wanting to make Joker-style origin stories about other D.C. characters…well, hold your horses and calm down.
Deadline‘s Mike Fleming: “The Joker sequel news that hit a trade today is great click bait, but multiple inside sources said that while a sequel to the billion dollar grossing film is an obvious likely eventuality that makes all the financial sense in the world, at this point there are no deals for a sequel, nor even any negotiations with director Todd Phillips or his co-writer Scott Silver to craft one.
“Those sources add that the linchpin of today’s THR story — that a week after Joker‘s opening, Phillips met with Warner Bros film chief Toby Emmerich to pitch a portfolio of DC character origin stories — is as flat false as earlier stories that Martin Scorsese contemplated directing the first Joker (Scorsese was originally going to be a producer, but dropped out because of his crowded schedule).
“Multiple sources said no such October 7 meeting between Phillips and Emmerich occurred, and that Phillips hasn’t even considered overseeing other DC character films.”