This time last year Joker was just about to hit movie screens. In the time since, the movie has become the first R-rated film to gross over a billion dollars and was nominated for a ton of Academy Awards (including Best Picture), with star Joaquin Phoenix taking home the Oscar for Best Actor.
According to Consequence of Sound, Warner Bros. is anxious to make sequels to the smash hit. Negotiations are said to be underway, but their sources say that Phoenix has been offered a massive $50 million payday for two more Joker movies. Scripts are being worked on and the idea would be to bring back Phoenix and Joker director Todd Phillips for movies to be released in 2022 and 2024. Phillips was quoted late last year saying that no real sequel conversations had taken place. That seems to have changed.
The original movie was conceived as a standalone, but the state of the DC movies is always shifting. Recent developments have both Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton appearing in a Flash movie as their respective versions of Batman/Bruce Wayne, and movie Flash Ezra Miller crossed over to meet TV Flash Grant Gustin in an episode of the CW TV show. In an atmosphere where these movies start embracing the idea of a multiverse, we could easily see the Joaquin Phoenix version of the Joker popping up in some future DC Universe movie.
Photo: Warner Bros.