“It was a hard movie for us to get made and to
convince DC and the studio,” Phillips said. “And
in fairness the studio took a bold swing with the
movie and let us do exactly what we wanted...
there really were no rules and boundaries for it.”
Phillips describes it as a character study in the
vein of the 1970s movies he grew up with, such
as Martin Scorcese’s “Taxi Driver” and “The King
of Comedy.”
Set in the late 1970s and early 1980s, with New
York playing Gotham City, his R-rated “Joker” is
bounded by gritty realism. It’s led to some early
concerns about the violence that audiences can
expect from the film.
Phillips said there isn’t that much and they
were “very careful” with how violence was used
in the film.
“A lot of people think it is going to be a really
violent movie,” Phillips said. “Why it might affect
you is we tried to paint it with as realistic brush
as possible so when it comes it can feel like a
punch in the stomach.”