Joker Sequel Report Is Now In Dispute

UPDATE: a subsequent report in Deadline states that Todd Phillips did not meet with Toby Emmerich to discuss other DC origin movies, and a no deal has been made yet for the director to make a Joker sequel. Original story below.

Joker might be a modestly-budgeted, dark, and violent supervillain movie, but it has also become of the year's biggest releases. This week, the film became the first R-rated movie to cross the $1 billion mark at the worldwide box office, and it has now been reported that director Todd Phillips is in talks with Warner to helm the sequel.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Phillips is looking to reteam with Joker star Joaquin Phoenix and co-writer Scott Silver for the sequel. The site also states that initially Phillips approached the studio with the idea of making a series of origin movies based on various DC heroes and villains. But while Warner boss Toby Emmerich was reportedly reluctant to hand over very many characters, he did grant Phillips the rights to make "at least one other DC story."

When Joker was released last month, Phillips denied he was planning a follow-up. "We have no plan for a sequel," he said. "We made this movie, I pitched it to Warner Bros. as one movie, it exists in its own world, that's it. It's not about worldbuilding, it's not about other versions, it's like, here's our version of the origin story, that's it."

However, Phoenix subsequently stated that he was interested in a second movie because he felt there was "way too much to explore" in one film. In addition, Phillips himself recently spoke about how he would approach a sequel. "It couldn't just be this wild and crazy movie about the 'Clown Prince of Crime'," he told the LA Times. "It would have to have some thematic resonance in a similar way that [Joker] does."

However, one person who might not be excited about a Joker sequel is Jared Leto. Leto played the character in 2016's Suicide Squad and reportedly tried to stop Joker being made when he discovered that a different actor would be playing the role.