THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER 59 OCTOBER 30, 2019
and having DC is that we don’t feel
that all the movies have to be —
not that Disney’s films are — but
we don’t feel our films have to be
of the same tone or in a connected
universe. We thought making an
R-rated supervillain origin story
was a cool idea. We didn’t see [the
success] coming at this level when
we greenlit the film.There was criticism of the realistic
violence in Joker, especially in the
wake of so many mass shootings,
and a Universal release, The Hunt,
was actually scrapped this sum-
mer over similar violence concerns.
What made The Hunt unreleasable
and Joker a $900 million hit?
LANGLEY We took The Hunt from
the release calendar out of sen-
sitivity for the mass shootings
that happened over the course
of that weekend and we were in
a window where we were heavily
marketing. It later got conflated
with it being about the movie’s
subject matter. But remember,
nobody has seen this movie out-
side of the studio.
EMMERICH There were a lot of
misunderstandings around the
history of the tragic shooting in
Aurora, [Colorado, in 2012,] which
happened at a Batman film. And
we were certainly supersensi-
tive to it [and the tragedy for the
victims and their loved ones].
But that film and that shooting
had no connection in any way to
the Joker character. So we had to
judge our film on its own merits.
A lot of the social media com-
ments around the film were by
people who hadn’t seen the film
and didn’t know what it was. We
looked at the film really closely
and did feel that it was a great
film. That it was a piece of art.
And we didn’t think it would
inspire violence. We took it to
Venice, where it won the Golden
Lion. And we felt comfortable
releasing the film.Jim and Tom, you were at Fox 20
years ago when Fight Club came
out. There was criticism of the vio-
lence in that movie. I wonder what
would have happened if it had been
released in the social media age?
ROTHMAN There has always been
a lot of talk about pop culture
impact from films. The mere fact
that everybody is on FacebookSalkeRothmanGianopulosto $50 million. And you open to
$43 million and it’s a disappoint-
ment. We never said it was going
to open to 50!Alan, I remember when American
Idol was No. 1 for many years in a
row and its audience was 30 mil-
lion viewers a night. The president
of NBC at the time, I believe it was
Jeff Zucker, said, “Someday it will
not be cool to watch American
Idol.” Do you think about when that
day comes for the Marvel movies?
HORN The answer is no. If the film
has a compelling storyline, if it
has heart and humor, two things
that I insist on, and it’s terrifically
well executed, I think there is an
audience. But who knows?Twenty-three hits in a row is an
unprecedented streak.
HORN It is long. But Kevin Feige is
working away. He will be making
three or four a year. And they are
very different from one another,
so we’ll see.
GIANOPULOS We started to notice
with Avengers it was running out
of steam.
ALL (Laughter.)
EMMERICH Especially the second
one.
STUBER What people don’t give
comic books credit for, is that
for a giant group of us, they are
literature. They are like To K i l l a
Mockingbird.
ROTHMAN They are not To K i l l a
Mockingbird. I am sorry.
ALL (Laughter.)
ROTHMAN As a former English
teacher ... I promised I wouldn’t
say anything, but I have to say
something now.
STUBER I have confused the [Fox]
Searchlight Tom with the Sony
Tom. And Kevin, who I have
known for a long time, takes them
deeply seriously and understands
the fan base and the nuance of
those characters.Toby, in Toronto at the premiere
of Joker, one thing you mentioned
stuck with me. You said, “We
wanted to do something that we
knew Marvel and Disney could
never do.” Is that how you approach
the DC library?
EMMERICH The impetus behind
making Joker really came from
Todd [Phillips]. But one of the
advantages of being Warner Bros.being watched globally and were
hugely popular, they were being
given a report card every morning
that they were DOA. Which then
creates perception, and it sent a
lot of shows to an early graveyard.
ROTHMAN When we dated the
Quentin [Tarantino] movie, I
knew a year in advance, because it
was the second week of Lion King,
that absolutely positively that
movie would not [open at] No. 1.
And the conversation we had with
the filmmakers was “Even if we
get your biggest opening ever, I
promise you will not be No. 1. But
I also promise you it’s a great day
for the movie. And we need to
ignore that and put the movie on
what’s a good date for it.”
EMMERICH We all work for public
companies. Our slates will be
judged on a quarterly and an
annual basis. But the short-term
focus on [box office] can often
not give your movie a chance. The
platform release has kind of gone
away, which was another way to
give films a chance.
GIANOPULOS One of the things we
have to manage is expectations.
The press says it’s going to open