Todd Phillips previously denied that he had any desire to make a sequel to his blockbuster Joker, starring Joaquin Phoenix, and according to The Hollywood Reporter, he approached Warner Bros. with a much bigger idea.
Phillips reportedly approached Warner Bros. chairman Toby Emmerich with the idea of developing a portfolio of DC characters’ origin stories. While Emmerich reportedly turned the proposal down, they did cede the rights to at least one other DC story.
Now that Joker has crossed the $1 billion mark at the box office, Phillips is in talks to direct a sequel, with him and Scott Silver set to write. Phoenix will reprise his role.
Joker is the fourth DC title to cross the $1 billion mark, after 2018’s Aquaman ($1.15 billion), 2012’s The Dark Knight Rises ($1.08 billion) and 2008’s The Dark Knight ($1 billion), but it’s $60 million budget was much smaller than the others. Phillips, 48, will reportedly rake in about $100 million at the end of the day.
