It’s going to be ‘gritty and grounded.’ Yes to this!
During The Dark Knight, The Joker begged Harvey Dent to “introduce a little anarchy,” but in cinematic terms, very few directors are more knowledgeable, stylish and beloved than Martin Scorsese.
During his remarkable career, Scorsese has brought to life some of the finest cinematic villains of all time, but in doing so, he has always maintained a light touch.
Think about it. Tommy DeVito in Goodfellas could make anyone laugh out loud in one scene and in the next, he’s scaring the living s**t out of you.
Travis Bickle (Taxi Driver), Bill ‘The Butcher’ Cutting (Gangs of New York), Nicky Santoro and Sam ‘Ace’ Rothstein (both Casino), Frank Costello (The Departed) and countless other Scorsese characters have effortlessly flirted between those two extremes, charisma and villainy.
That’s why they’re such memorable characters.
With this in mind, we’re delighted to read that the beloved director will be producing a ‘a gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-80s Gotham City’ that revolves around The Joker.
Why so serious? Well, the Clown Prince of Crime is arguably the finest comic-book villain of all time and this is a magnificent way of approaching the material.
Deadline are reporting that Warner Bros and DC are in the early stages of developing an origin story for The Joker with the director of War Dogs, Old School and The Hangover trilogy, Todd Phillips, to co-write a script with 8 Mile scribe Scott Silver.
Phillips will also direct the movie, and Martin Scorsese will produce it with Phillips.
Deadline journalist Mike Fleming Jr has sated that the film “will launch the character with a different actor, possibly younger.” Taking that as fact, it’s fair to assume that Jared Leto won’t be returning to the role for this adaptation although nothing official has been confirmed yet.
“The intention is to make a gritty and grounded hard-boiled crime film set in early-80s Gotham City that isn’t meant to feel like a DC movie as much as one of Scorsese’s films from that era, like Taxi Driver, Raging Bull or The King Of Comedy,” Fleming Jr writes.
As we know, there have been some iconic performances of The Joker on the big screen. Jack Nicholson’s wacky and unhinged turn in 1989’s Batman was magnificent but somehow, Heath Ledger’s iconic and Oscar-winning performance in 2008’s The Dark Knight managed to top that.
In The Dark Knight, Alfred tells us that “some men just want to watch the world burn.” With Martin Scorsese attached, we’d happily pay good money to see that happening in Gotham.
