Distraught, Arthur enters Sophie's apartment unannounced.įrightened, Sophie talks to Arthur as if the two had never met, saying she recognizes him from down the hall, then asks him to leave. For allowing the abuse Penny was sent to Arkham. Penny then raised Arthur with her abusive boyfriend, who later died in jail. In denial, Arthur visits Arkham State Hospital and steals Penny's file, which states she was a narcissist who adopted Arthur while working as a housekeeper for the Waynes in the 1950s. Arthur confronts Thomas, who tells him that Penny is not his biological mother. Arthur's idol, popular late-night talk show host Murray Franklin, mocks Arthur by showing clips of his failed performance, calling him a "joker". Penny suffers a stroke and is hospitalized. He goes to Wayne Manor, where he meets Thomas's young son Bruce, but flees after a scuffle with family butler Alfred Pennyworth. Arthur intercepts a letter from Penny to Thomas, alleging that he is Thomas's illegitimate son, and berates his mother for hiding the truth. Sophie attends Arthur's stand-up routine, which goes poorly he laughs uncontrollably, and his jokes fall flat. Budget cuts shut down the social service program, leaving Arthur without his medication. Protesters don clown masks in Arthur's image. The killings are condemned by billionaire mayoral candidate Thomas Wayne, who calls his political opponents "clowns". Depressed on the subway, still in clown makeup, Arthur is beaten by drunk businessmen from Wayne Investments he shoots and kills two of them in self-defense and murders the third as he attempts to flee. At a children's hospital, Arthur is fired when his gun is exposed. Arthur pursues a relationship with his neighbor, single mother Sophie, and invites her to see his routine at Pogo's comedy club. After Arthur is attacked by juvenile delinquents, Arthur's co-worker Randall gives him a gun for self-defense. Arthur suffers from a neurological disorder that causes him to laugh at inappropriate times, requiring medication. In 1981, party clown and aspiring stand-up comedian Arthur Fleck lives with his mother, Penny, in crime-ridden Gotham City amidst a recession. At the 92nd Academy Awards, it earned a leading 11 nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Adapted Screenplay, winning Best Actor for Phoenix and Best Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir. The film also received numerous accolades. It grossed over $1 billion, the first R-rated film to do so, and became the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2019 during its theatrical run. Despite this, Joker was a box office success and set records for an October release. While Phoenix's performance, the direction, visual style, editing, musical score, and cinematography were praised, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinions and generated concerns of inspiring real-life violence. Joker had its world premiere at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2019, where it won the Golden Lion, and was released in the United States on October 4, 2019. Joker is the first live-action theatrical Batman film to receive an R rating from the Motion Picture Association. Principal photography took place in New York City, Jersey City, and Newark, from September to December 2018.
Phoenix became attached in February 2018 and was cast that July, while the majority of the cast signed on by August. The film loosely adapts plot elements from Batman: The Killing Joke (1988), but Phillips and Silver otherwise did not look to specific comics for inspiration.
The two were inspired by 1970s character studies and the films of Martin Scorsese (particularly Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy), who was initially attached to the project as a producer. Phillips conceived Joker in 2016 and wrote the script with Silver throughout 2017.
Pictures and DC Films in association with Village Roadshow Pictures, Bron Creative and Joint Effort. Pictures, Joker was produced by Warner Bros. Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy, Brett Cullen, Glenn Fleshler, Bill Camp, Shea Whigham, and Marc Maron appear in supporting roles. Set in 1981, it follows Arthur Fleck, a failed clown and aspiring stand-up comedian whose descent into insanity and nihilism inspires a violent counter-cultural revolution against the wealthy in a decaying and destroyed Gotham City. The film, based on DC Comics characters, stars Joaquin Phoenix as the Joker and provides a possible origin story for the character. Joker is a 2019 American psychological thriller film directed and produced by Todd Phillips, who co-wrote the screenplay with Scott Silver.