Last night, Todd Phillips finally cleared the air regarding the huge story that Warner Bros. had decided to move forward with a sequel to “Joker.” After that initial story, contradictory reports started to pop up, casting doubt on whether or not WB was actually working on a new film with Phillips, but last night, after a special screening of the film, the filmmaker finally set the record straight.
According to a new interview with IndieWire, the original report of a sequel was a bit backward. You see, Phillips wasn’t pitching a whole slate of origin stories based on the success of “Joker.” The filmmaker pitched WB about a whole slate of films before “Joker” and the studio was only willing to commit to the 2019 film.
“When I pitched them ‘Joker,’ it wasn’t a movie, it was, let’s do a whole label,” Phillips said. “They shut that down quickly and I get it. Who am I to walk in and start a label at a film studio? But they said, let’s do this one.”
Earlier today, we reported that Phillips said that he’s aware that WB is interested in the idea of a sequel, considering “Joker” has made over $1 billion, but there haven’t been any serious discussions, yet. And it appears that if its true that the filmmaker has more in mind than just one sequel, but a “whole label,” then maybe we’ll be hearing about plans bigger than just “Joker 2.”
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However, any official development is still not in the cards, as Phillips confirmed that a script for a sequel isn’t even being worked on now. So, fans will just have to be a bit more patient about the future of the franchise. One thing is for sure, however — Todd Phillips and Warner Bros. will be sitting down in the future. It’s just a matter of whether or not anything will come of that.