Have you ever said to yourself, “Damn, I wish there were more Joker films out there”? Did you say it aloud? Because Warner Brothers heard you and is sending another Joker film your way.
Variety is reporting that the studio is working on a stand-alone film featuring Jared Leto’s Joker. Leto will also act as executive producer on the project.
Here is the part where I am required by law to tell you this film has no bearing on the Todd Phillips’ Joker film, which had Joaquin Phoenix attached to it. That film is also still in active development. If we’re lucky, maybe both films will be released on the same day so we can get our maximum dosage of Joker.
The article does not mention what this means for Glenn Ficarra and John Requa’s Joker/ Harley Quinn crime romance that was announced in August of last year. Presumably, that film is also still in the works so we will have yet another Joker film to look forward to.
The article states this film is part of Warner’s plan to spin its Suicide Squad film off into a sub-franchise of its own. Variety states that the forthcoming Suicide Squad 2 (which Leto is also scheduled to appear in) and Birds of Prey films will be part of this shared universe, with other films set to spring out of the concept. And since the first Suicide Squad already has ties to the larger DC Extend Universe, its spin-off will presumably be a subsection of that. And Phillips Joker film will be set in an alternate universe that will not tie-in to either.
In other words, Warners will have three lines of DC Comics films, two connected to each other, the other one not. That has the potential to be a mite confusing, but it might also allow Warners to release three DC films a year without having to worry about all of them crossing over.
The film doesn’t even have a title, let alone a scheduled release date nor any other creative personnel other than Leto. We’ll keep an eye on it and report more on it as it develops.
