‘Joker’ sequel with Todd Phillips attached may or may not be happening. Probably yes, because we live in Hell

Today, news broke that a Joker sequel being helmed by Todd Phillips was a go. Not surprising, right? Original made a zillion dollars. However, Deadline has reported that shit ain’t set in stone. However given how much the first movie made, it’s pretty obvious the sequel is coming. I suppose the larger question is whether or not Phillips will return. Dude claims “artistic integrity” by made thirteen Hangover movies so fucking probably.

Deadline:

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. That would be in keeping with Phillips’s track record of being selective: after The Hangover began breaking records for R rated films, he did not seek to turn his company into a comedy factory.

No one is saying a Joker sequel won’t happen someday. But multiple sources said nothing has happened yet, and that Phillips and co-writer Scott Silver have made no real moves to draft the further dark rise of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck character, or even to make a deal to do that.