Robert De Niro is starting to talk about his role in Joker, and it seems all of those suggestions the film is similar to King of Comedy weren’t that far off.
Released in 1983, King of Comedy was a Martin Scorsese film starring De Niro about a crazed comedian namer Rupert Pupkin who was obsessed with a talk show host played by Jerry Lewis. Todd Phillips has stated many times since he started on directing duties for Joker that this film was going to be an influence, and it clearly is.
“There’s a connection, obviously, with the whole thing,” De Niro told IndieWire recently. “But it’s not as a direct connection as the character I’m playing being Rupert many years later as a host.” De Niro did make it clear he would have even been okay with it if it had been the same character, adding “If they would’ve proposed that to me, I would’ve said, ‘That’s interesting, maybe we’ll try to do that,’ but by making this type of film, it is connected in a way, as you’ll see.”
With Joker set in the 1980s, it’ll be easy to see some influences here and there. And while this film is firmly set in Gotham City, the New York City of the early 80s vide was very clear in the trailer.
It’s pretty clear this is going to be unlike any Joker we have seen on screen to date, and we’re anxious to see how it plays out.
Joker will hit theaters on Oct. 4.
SOURCE: IndieWire
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