T’SJUNE,ANDinthe
LosAngelesediting
suitewherePhillips
is overseeingJoker’s
post-production,the
filmhasbeenpaused,
landingona close-up
ofPhoenix’sArthur
Flecksmokinga cigarette.Empiresitson
a sofafacingmanymonitors,alldisplaying
theimage.TheJoker—oratleasttheman
whobecomeshim—surroundsus.He’s
engulfedPhillipsforthreeyears.
Inthesummerof2016,Phillipswas
promotingtheMilesTeller/JonahHilldrama
WarDogs, histakeonthetruestoryoftwo
youngarmsdealersoutoftheirdepth.Talking
aboutit forweekspromptedhimtothinkabout
thefilmshelovedgrowingup,andmost,he
realised—OneFlewOverTheCuckoo’sNest,
Serpico,TaxiDriver—werecharacterstudies.
Greatonestodayarefewandfarbetween,he
thought.“Andgettingpeopleouttoseethemon
a large scale is really difficult because the movie
I alsoknewthathedidn’treallyhaveanorigin
story,soI thought,‘OhJesus,areweabletodo
that,is it legal?’”
Thoughtscoalesced,andattheafter-party
forWarDogs’ LosAngelespremiereinAugust
2016,ontheSunsetTowerHotel’spoolterrace,
overlookingHollywooditselfandthinkingabout
thefutureofthemoviebusiness,Phillips
pitchedWarnerBros.’executivesonthespot.
Hesuggestedtheybegina divisioncalledDC
Black,separatingitselffromthecurrentcropof
DCfilms.“Isaid,‘LetJokerbethefirst,thenlet’s
getfuckinggreatfilmmakerstocomein.”It was
alsoa waytodifferentiatefromMarvel.“Instead
oftryingtoliveintheshadowofthatbeast,let’s
dosomethingtheycan’tdo,”hesaid.Budgets
shouldbearound$30million,herecommended,
filmswithoutalltheCGIhoopla.“Isaid,‘Let’s
just strip that all away. It’ll be liberating.’”HEEXECSTOLD
Phillipstogowritehis
Jokerscript,whichhedid
withScottSilver,writerof
CurtisHanson’s8 Mile
andDavidORussell’s
TheFighter. Theyhad
completecreativelicence.
“Wedidn’tfollowanythingfromthecomic-
books,whichpeoplearegonnabemadabout,”
saysPhillips.“Wejustwroteourownversionof
wherea guylikeJokermightcomefrom.That’s
whatwasinterestingtome.We’renotevendoing
Joker,butthestoryofbecomingJoker.It’sabout
thisman.”Thestudiolovedit,andwhilethey
didn’tcommittoDCBlack,theygreenlitJoker.
“Ithoughtit wascrazy-ambitious,”says
BradleyCooper,who’sproducingthefilm.“Todd
saidtome,‘I havethisidea,I wannatellthe
originstoryoftheJoker.’I said,‘Wow.Okay!’”
Thepairhitit offwhilemakingTheHangoverin
2009,andin 2014 formeda productioncompany,
atwhichtheywouldmakefilmstheywantedto
see,eachprovidingcreativeeyesandearsfor
theother.WarDogswasthefirst,thenCooper’s
A StarIsBorn, andnowJoker.
Elementsfromthecomicsareinthere,
“becauseitisTheJoker”,saysPhillips:thefilm
is setinGotham,1981,wherewe’llmeet
powerfulbusinessmanThomasWayneandhis
youngsonBruce.It’ssetthenbecausePhillips
didn’twantmobilephonesandtheinternetinthe
film,butalsobecausehe“didn’twantit totake
placeintheworldofZack[Snyder]and
[Christopher]Nolanoranyofthoseguys,”he
says.“Wejustwantit tobeitsownthing.”
Andthatthingis ArthurFleck,an
unbalancedindividualwho’sbeen“inthesystem
fora longtime”,saysPhillips,inandoutof
institutionsfora conditionthefilmdoesn’t
specify.FleckwaswrittenforPhoenix,withblind
optimism;Phillipsdidn’tknowhim,andthe
actorhasnotdalliedwithgenrematerialsince
workingwithM.NightShyamalanonSigns
(2002) andThe Village (2004). Since 2005’sbusinessis socomic-book-oriented.Andthen
I thought,‘Youcoulddoa characterstudyif
youdoit abouta comic-bookcharacter.’And
I alwayslikedJoker,becauseI likemayhem.”
Thisis clearif you’veseenhisfilms,
andevenmoresohereinLosAngeleswhere,
ona corkboardbehindthemonitors,hehas
pinnedvariousdocumentsfromhisfilmmaking
career:photosfromtheHangoverfilms;Will
Ferrellonthesetof2003’sOldSchool; a
handwrittenletterfromshit-slingingpunkrocker
GGAllin,thesubjectofHated, a notorious 1993
documentaryPhillipsmadewhenhewasstill
a studentatNewYorkUniversity.Inallofhis
filmstherearedisruptors:FerrellinOldSchool,
TomGreeninRoadTrip, ZachGalifianakisin
DueDate.
“Oh,there’sa thread,”hesays.[The
Hangover’s]“MrChowis theJoker.GGAllinis
theJoker.I justlovetheenergythata disruptor
brings.SoI thought,‘AJokeroriginstorywould
becool;nobody’sdonethat.’I readcomicbooks
asa kid,I knewenoughaboutFrankMillerand
theDark Knight series, andThe Killing Joke. ❯