The Joker Poster is Here, Trailer Coming Tomorrow
It’s time to put on a happy face.
The first poster for Todd Phillips‘ upcoming Joker is here. It’s delightfully creepy. Joaquin Phoenix’s titular psychopath is in his iconic clown paint. In Joker, Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck begins the film as a failed comedian. The poster gives us the Clown Prince of Chaos after his transformation from laughing stock to laughing lunatic. You’ll note that there appears to be blood on the Joker’s face.
We’re finally starting to learn a little bit more about the film. One of Phoenix’s co-stars, Marc Maron, recently shared some insight about what makes this film so different from other comic book-based stories:
“The approach that Todd Phillips has taken is more of an origin story and a character study of a mentally ill person that becomes The Joker,” Maron explained to NME. “It’s more of an intimate and gritty movie with a very specific scope. It’s going to be really interesting to see how it comes out.”
Phoenix is a deeply committed actor. You know that he took on the role with his usual intensity, and it’s not hard to imagine that this iteration of the character will be the darkest we’ve ever seen. Rather than trying to live up to Heath Ledger’s iconic performance in The Dark Knight, which was a totally different kind of film, it sounds like Phoenix and Phillips have gone in their own direction. The film’s relatively modest budget speaks to Maron’s point about this being a more intimate, specific story.
Needless to say, Joker has all of our attention. The combination of Phoenix and his extremely talented co-stars is one such reason. We’ve got Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, and Frances Conroy to name a few. Then there’s Phillips commitment to telling a darker, grittier origin story. Finally, Martin Scorsese’s involvement as a producer is intriguing, to say the least.
We’ll be back tomorrow once the trailer drops. Joker is due in theaters on October 4, 2019.
Featured image: Caption: JOAQUIN PHOENIX as Arthur Fleck in “Joker,” from Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and BRON Creative. A Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Nikos Tavernise
