Joker director Todd Phillips finally clarified the rumors regarding his DC Black Label pitch.
Earlier this week, the internet turned into a frenzied mess as it was announced that Todd Phillips’ Joker would be getting a sequel . In addition to to a Joker sequel, Todd Phillips would be able to launch his own wing of DC films, dubbed Black Label, which would allow him and other filmmakers to make darker and mature films on DC’s villains. This Joker sequel news, however, turned out to be premature at best, but Todd Phillips recently confirmed that there was validity to the DC Black label pitch he made to Warner Bros.
Speaking to Deadline, Todd Phillips clarified his DC Black label pitch and how it would differentiate from the DCEU.
“I went to Warners because I knew that there would be concerns about, how do you separate it from the movies that they were making? I knew they were going to go, ‘We’re going to confuse the audience if you have this Joker out there in these movies, and then you’re doing this whole other thing.’ So my pitch to them was actually to start a label, which was a little aggressive, I’ll admit, in hindsight.”
The DC Black label would be a safe-haven for films that are mid-budget and far more grounded in reality. Essentially, Joker would have been the first of many films that would have followed the same formula.
“I said, ‘This will be the first movie, and then we’ll get this director to do that, and this director to do this, and we’ll call it DC Black, and Joker will be the first film. In a weird way, it gives you two bites of the apple, of these characters. You can do these kind of down-and-dirty character studies over here, and still do the DC Universe over there. To which they said, ‘Okay, calm down, you’re not starting a label here at Warners, but this is interesting. Go write this and tell us what you’re thinking.’”
In hindsight, it’s actually quite hilarious to see Warner Bros. doubt Todd Phillips’ vision for DC Black considering Joker recently grossed over a billion dollars, an unprecedented move for a film that is R-rated. A Joker sequel is currently not officially announced, but as the days go by, it’s almost certain that we’ll be seeing something from the character. As for Todd Phillips’ DC Black label, it’s fair to say this his ambitious pitch will get its light of day at Warner Bros.
Do you want a Joker sequel? Which DC villain do you want Todd Phillips to adapt next for DC Black? Comment below and let us know!
Here is the official synopsis for Joker:
Director Todd Phillips’ Joker centers around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone fictional story not seen before on the big screen. Phillips’ exploration of Arthur Fleck, who is indelibly portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix, is of a man struggling to find his way in Gotham’s fractured society. A clown-for-hire by day, he aspires to be a stand-up comic at night…but finds the joke always seems to be on him. Caught in a cyclical existence between apathy and cruelty, Arthur makes one bad decision that brings about a chain reaction of escalating events in this gritty character study.
Directed by Todd Phillips from a script he co-wrote with Scott Silver, Joker stars Joaquin Phoenix, Zazie Beetz, Bill Camp, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Douglas Hodge, Marc Maron, Josh Pais, and Shea Whigham.
Joker is now playing in theater. Stay tuned for more updates on the Joker sequel, Todd Phillips, and DC Black.
Source: Deadline
