DC's New Joker Movie With Joaquin Phoenix Has A Release Date

The new Joker movie from The Hangover director Todd Phillips and starring Joaquin Phoenix as Batman's most famous nemesis, finally has a release date. The film, which is simply titled "Joker," will open on October 4, 2019, Warner Bros. announced today.

There is no word yet on other cast members, but production is reportedly set to begin in September in New York so those details should be coming along in due time. [Update: We've also now learned who another member of the cast might be.]

According to a previous report, the film has a budget of "only" around $55 million. The film will apparently be more "experimental in tone and content," likened to a "crime drama."

Phoenix previously spoke about why he was attracted to the project. "I think, underneath the excitement of these films, and the size of them, there are these incredible characters that are dealing with real-life struggles," he said in an interview. "And sometimes that is uncovered and exposed, and sometimes it isn't, and so I always felt, like, there were characters in comics that were really interesting and deserve the opportunity to be kind of studied. And so I think that's what Todd sees appealing about this idea."

The new Joker movie with Phoenix is separate from the other one starring Jared Leto as the Clown Prince of Crime. Phoenix's movie will reportedly have no impact on Leto's portrayal of The Joker in future movies--including Suicide Squad 2 and his film.