Joaquin Phoenix has never seemed like the type of person who got into the acting business for the money, and he’s spent his career building a reputation as one of the finest talents of his generation, one that never phones it in or shows up for an easy paycheck. However, after winning an Academy Award for Best Actor by playing the title character in the highest-grossing R-rated movie ever made that raked in over a billion dollars at the box office, you can guarantee that his asking price will have significantly increased.
Of course, Phoenix has never shown any interest in becoming part of a franchise, and even turned down the chance to play the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s Doctor Strange due to his unwillingness to sign a multi-picture contract, but after Joker became one of the most profitable comic book flicks in history, Warner Bros. would no doubt be happy to park a truckload of cash outside his house in an effort to convince the 46 year-old to return as Arthur Fleck.
There’ve been constant rumors about potential sequels over the last year, and while the studio still hasn’t officially annoucned anything, insider Daniel Richtman is now claiming that Phoenix is asking for a whole lot of money to sign on the dotted line. How much exactly remains up for debate, especially following the recent speculation that he’d been offered $50 million for second and third outings, but here’s what the tipster shared:
“Phoenix wants a lot of money to come back to Joker 2 and it looks like he’ll get it.”
If any actor found themselves in a position to ask for at least $50 million to star in two relatively low budget R-rated sequels, then they’d be foolish not to try and push the number even higher. But whatever the asking price may be, Phoenix will be fully aware that the studio wouldn’t make any more Joker movies set in his corner of the DC universe without him.
