Movies & TV / Columns

Should There Be a Sequel to Joker?

October 12, 2019 | Posted by Steve Gustafson
Joker Joaquin Phoenix JOAQUIN PHOENIX as Arthur Fleck in Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Roadshow Pictures and BRON Creative’s “JOKER,” a Warner Bros. Pictures release. Photo Credit: Niko Tavernise

Joaquin Pheonix’s Joker has been a hotbed of conversation for a while now. With it performing surprisingly strong, it’s no surprise that there’s already rumors of making a sequel.

Even after it was made clear months ago that this movie would be a one and done. 

How much money is Joker making? The second weekend is already estimated to take first place with as much as $50 million, analysts said.

In its first weekend, Joker pulled in an impressive $96.2 million in the fifth-largest domestic opening of 2019. This is great news for Warner Bros., which partnered with Village Roadshow and Bron on the $55 million
movie. 

If all goes well, Joker will pass $185 million by end of business on Sunday for the eight-largest 2019 title in North America.

Money talks in Hollywood and for an actor of Phoenix’s caliber, so does a juicy role that allows plenty of interpretation and stretching of abilities. 

Phoenix appeared on Popcorn with Peter Travers and spoke about the possibility of a return to the role.

“I wouldn’t have thought of this as my dream role,” Phoenix said. “But now, honestly, I can’t stop thinking about it. I talked to Todd a lot about what else we might be able to do, in general, just working together, but also specifically, if there’s something else we can do with Joker that might be interesting. So, it ended up being a dream role. It’s nothing that I really wanted to do prior to working on this movie.”

Warner Bros. would certainly be open to it as they are trying to post victories any way they can and a connected expanded universe will take backseat to a critically acclaimed moneymaker. 

While I’ve read some having issues with an out-of-cinematic-continuity Joker movie, I’m fine with allowing different interpretations. As a huge fan of Elseworlds, some of my favorite stories stem from the freedom that imprint allowed. With DC’s deep and diverse cast of characters, maybe that should be the niche they carve instead of following Marvel’s path. 

As far as a sequel to Joker, one seemed to work. I’m not sure what more there is to say or even what the second movie could cover without taking away from what we already have. 

Then again, if there’s money to be made, does it even matter?

article topics :

Joker, Steve Gustafson