DC fans had their minds blown when it was announced a month ago that an origins movie for the Joker was in the works. Sitting outside the DC Extended Universe, the film is set to feature a new actor as the Clown Prince of Crime in place of Jared Leto. Furthermore, The Hangover’s Todd Phillips is directing with legendary filmmaker Martin Scorsese on hand to produce.
Still, there wasn’t initially any guarantee that the project would see the light of day anytime soon. After all, plenty of other DC films have been announced only to never end up materializing (see: Lobo and Justice League Dark). That won’t be the case for The Joker, though, as we’re now hearing that it’s being fast-tracked into production.
Variety’s Justin Kroll confirmed via Twitter that sources have informed him the script is set to be handed in to Warner Bros. next week. “Hear THE JOKER script will be turned in by next week,” Kroll wrote. “Super fast considering when announcement went out [and] bodes well for 2018 shoot.”
We don’t know a great deal about what the script contains so far, but a few details have already leaked out. It’s said to be a dark and gritty take on the character, inspired by 1980s crime dramas like Taxi Driver. Not only that, but the backstory will allegedly reveal that Joker has had a permanent smile since childhood, which led him to become a social outcast.
Assuming the studio approves of the script, it’s a fair bet that the movie will go before the cameras next year. No names have been announced just yet, but rumor has it that WB are eyeing Scorsese’s frequent collaborator Leonardo DiCaprio for the role. However, it’s also been claimed that the Oscar-winning actor actually signing up is highly unlikely, so who knows?
We’ll just have to wait and see what happens with The Joker, but if things go as smoothly as the studio hopes, we should get some more updates fairly soon.
