After $1 billion at the box office, 11 Oscar nominations and two major wins, , it鈥檚 easy to forget the handwringing over 鈥� .鈥�
In the lead up to its release in October 2019, the Todd Phillips film, a dark origin story about the mentally ill man who becomes the deranged Batman villain, hit a cultural inflection point that had divisions forming before most had even seen it. People worried 鈥淛oker鈥� would glorify violence, that people would take the wrong message and there鈥檇 be incidents at movie theaters. Words like 鈥渄angerous,鈥� 鈥渋rresponsible鈥� and 鈥渋ncel-friendly鈥� were thrown around.
Even its inclusion in the main competition at the Venice Film Festival was enough to get people gossiping. (Its sequel, 鈥� ,鈥� will also be debuting in competition at Venice on Sept. 4.)
At the time, some assumed Phillips had called in a favor. How else could a comic book movie play alongside auteurs and Oscar-contenders? This, , was not true. But the fact that it wasn't being treated like a standard comic book movie release and instead getting the rollout of an Oscar contender was enough to send movie fans into a tizzy.
The world was further shocked when , the Golden Lion, which in previous years had gone to films like 鈥淭he Shape of Water鈥� and 鈥淩oma.鈥� One article called it 鈥渋nsane.鈥�
Accepting Venice's top prize from jury president Lucrecia Martel, Phillips thanked Warner Bros. and DC for 鈥渟tepping out of their comfort zone and taking such a bold swing on me and this movie鈥� and Phoenix for trusting him with his 鈥渋nsane talents.鈥�
And it sent a clear message to the skeptical film world: 鈥淛oker鈥� was not to be underestimated or dismissed. Neither was Phillips, a filmmaker whose biggest successes had at that point come from frat-bro comedies like 鈥淭he Hangover鈥� and 鈥淥ld School.鈥�
Phillips took cues from movies like Martin Scorsese鈥檚 鈥淭axi Driver鈥� and 鈥淭he King of Comedy鈥� to add a disturbing realism to the story. He does not fall into a vat of acid and come out laughing, he said. Instead, it's a chilling portrait of a loner pushed over the edge.
Phoenix too underwent a drastic physical transformation, losing 52 pounds on an extremely calorie-restricted diet with the supervision of a doctor. He told the AP he expected 鈥渇eelings of dissatisfaction, hunger, a certain kind of vulnerability and a weakness.鈥� Instead, he found the emaciation led to a physical 鈥渇luidity鈥� that he didn鈥檛 quite anticipate.
Reviews were mostly positive and even the more critical responses admired the boldness. In his review, that 鈥淧hillips and Phoenix have made something to reckon with, certainly, and that alone makes it a bold exception in a frustratingly safe genre.鈥�
Phillips wasn鈥檛 shy about discussing the film, his intentions and the criticisms.
鈥淚 just hope people see it and take it as a movie,鈥� Phillips told the AP before its release. 鈥淒o I hope everyone loves it? No. We didn鈥檛 make the movie for everyone. Anytime anyone tries to make a movie for everyone it鈥檚 usually for nobody. ... You have a choice. Don鈥檛 see it is the other choice.鈥�
The concerns continued to escalate as family members of the victims of the 2012 movie theater shooting during 鈥淭he Dark Knight Rises鈥� wrote a letter to the studio鈥檚 then CEO urging the company to advocate for gun safety.
By the time it was ready for its U.S. premieres, the studio pressed pause on interviews. The red carpets at the Hollywood and New York Film Festival premieres would be photo-only affairs.
鈥淎 lot has been said about 鈥楯oker,鈥� and we just feel it鈥檚 time for people to see the film,鈥� a studio representative said at the time.
And people certainly saw it. It opened to nearly $100 million in Oct. 2019 and by the end of its run had grossed over $1 billion, holding the record for highest grossing R-rated film until 鈥淒eadpool & Wolverine鈥� . Phillips congratulated Shawn Levy, Marvel and Disney for the feat.
Soon, he鈥檒l be heading back to the , with Phoenix and Lady Gaga to debut 鈥淛oker: Folie 脿 Deux." The expectations are higher. So are the stakes. It carries bigger budget than its $60 million predecessor, but Phillips told Variety that reports of it exceeding $200 million are 鈥渁bsurd.鈥�
It has also already inspired a fair amount of discourse. But this time it鈥檚 not about violence: It鈥檚 about musicals.
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More coverage of the 2024 Venice Film Festival:
Lindsey Bahr, The Associated Press
