Deadline is reporting that The Hangover director Todd Phillips has been hired by Warner Bros. to co-write a Joker origin movie with 8 Mile writer Scott Silver. Phillips will also likely direct the movie, with legendary director Martin Scorsese set to produce.
Now here’s where it gets even more interesting… Deadline says that this Joker origin movie will be part of a new brand of DC movies for Warner Bros. It will not be tied to their current DC Extended Universe, where Jared Leto has been cast as the character. As a result, a new (possibly younger) actor will be cast for the Joker origin movie.
Here are more details about the new Joker project:
An intriguing part is the setting. The intention is to make a gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-’80s Gotham City that isn’t meant to feel like a DC movie as much as one of Scorsese’s films from that era, like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or The King Of Comedy. I’m told that Phillips and Silver are writing already, but there is nothing firm on where this will fit into the DC schedule.
Variety and The Hollywood Reporter both corroborate this story with their own reports, with THR adding that Martin Scorsese’s role as a producer is not a done deal yet.
This is CRAZY news. Pretty fitting for The Joker. What do you make of it all? Sound off in the comments below!
SOURCE: Deadline
