2019 saw Warner Bros. experiment with its DC film property by releasing its first "Elseworld" tale in Joker. Initially seen as a huge gamble by many, the risk the production company took would eventually pay off as the Joaquin Phoenix-led film generated over 1.074 billion at the global box office, making it the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time.
The film ended in a huge cliffhanger which sees Arthur Fleck cause chaos in Gotham City. Now, fans are eager to see what he does next and while it was previously believed that Joker won't spawn sequels, it was later confirmed that Phoenix will reprise the role in a new feature film. Now, Joker 2 is getting a promising production update.
According to the good folks over at Heroic Hollywood, Warner Bros. has started pre-production for the project which will also see the return of Todd Phillips as director. According to their source, WB already finalized the script's initial draft, and filming is expected to kickstart sometime in 2023 although the exact date wasn't mentioned.
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Considering the first film had a more grounded feel to it, it'll be interesting to see if Joker 2 will finally embrace the villain's true nature and incorporate actual elements from the Batman comic books. I mean, as much as I appreciated the approach they made for the first one, I think it's time to bring the Clown Prince of Crime closer to his roots.
The original Joker film is available for streaming on Disney+.