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JOKER
JOKER, everybody's waiting for this amazing movie A gritty character study of Arthur Fleck, a man disregarded by society (IMDB JOKER gives its infamous central character a chillingly plausible origin story that serves as a brilliant showcase for its star -- and a dark evolution for comics-inspired cinema (ROTTEN TOMATOES
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Rating: R (for strong bloody violence, disturbing behavior, language and brief sexual images Genre: Action & Adventure, Drama, Mystery & Suspense Directed By: Todd Phillips Written By: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver Runtime: 122 minutes Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
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CAST
Joaquin Phoenix as Arthur Fleck / Joker
Robert De Niro as Murray Franklin
Zazie Beetz as Sophie Dumond
***************************** Joaquin Phoenix's first role in a comic book film. He previously turned down the title role in "Doctor Strange" (2016) as well as the chance to replace Edward Norton as the Hulk in "The Avengers" (2012), because he was unwilling to sign on to the multi-picture deal that Marvel Studios was requiring
***************************** Joaquin Phoenix lost a lot of weight for his role as the Joker. It was so serious that filming could only be done once, with no opportunity for reshoots. Todd Phillips had to write the script during production
***************************** The song heard in the teaser trailer is "Smile", composed by comedian Charles Chaplin for his film Modern Times (1936
***************************** The first theatrical DC Comics film to be rated R since Watchmen (2009), released ten years earlier
***************************** Three of the previous actors who have played the Joker - Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger, and Jared Leto - are Oscar winners (with Ledger winning for playing The Joker). Joaquin Phoenix has been nominated for an Oscar three times
***************************** The film's final budget was $55 million, considered by The Hollywood Reporter "a fraction" of the typical budget for a comic book-based film
***************************** With Joaquin Phoenix playing the Joker, all the major cast members of Gladiator have now played mentors/origin story characters for all the current DC superheroes so far. Russell Crowe has played Superman's father Jor El, Connie Nielsen played Wonder Woman's mother Queen Hippolyta and Djimon Hounsou played Shazam the wizard and King Ricou in Aquaman
***************************** Leonardo DiCaprio and Bill Skarsgård were rumored to play the Joker
***************************** De Niro said his role in Joker pays homage to his character from The King of Comedy (1983), Rupert Pupkin, who is a comedian obsessed with a talk-show host
***************************** Became the first film by a major studio to win the golden lion(Venice film festival's highest prize) as well as being the first comic book movie to be shown in a major film festival
***************************** Joaquin Phoenix is the seventh actor to portray The Joker on the silver screen. He follows Cesar Romero (Batman: The Movie (1966)), Jack Nicholson (Batman (1989)), Mark Hamill (Batman: Mask of the Phantasm (1993)), Heath Ledger (The Dark Knight (2008)), Jared Leto (Suicide Squad (2016)), and Zach Galifianakis (The Lego Batman Movie (2017
***************************** Joaquin Phoenix is dating Rooney Mara in real life, who was among the actresses considered to play the Joker's girlfriend Harley Quinn in Suicide Squad (2016
***************************** This is Zazie Beetz's second comic book movie after Deadpool 2 (2018
***************************** Robert De Niro previously appeared in Heat (1995) opposite previous Batman actor Val Kilmer. The bank robbery in Heat (1995) was also the inspiration for the opening sequence of The Dark Knight (2008), with William Fichtner appearing in both movies. De Niro also turned down a role in The Departed (2006) that went to Jack Nicholson, who played The Joker in Batman (1989
***************************** Second DC movie featuring the Joker to be R rated after Batman: The Killing Joke (2016
***************************** Although this is Robert De Niro's first comic book movie, he was considered for the role of The Riddler in Batman Forever (1995
***************************** The joke "When I was a little boy and told people I was going to be comedian, everyone laughed at me. Well no one's laughing now" is inspired by the late British comedian Bob Monkhouse's "People used to laugh at me when I said I wanted to be a comedian. Well they're not laughing now "
