Todd Phillips was afraid fans would find 'Joker' boring as it lacked the 'blockbuster action' they were used to
Todd Phillips, the director and writer of the billion-dollar film 'Joker', has revealed what his 'biggest fear' was about the movie. The director said that the main concern was that the movie might be on a smaller scale and 'boring' to comic book fans who were used to a lot of blockbuster action.
"Comic book movies are humongous around the world, and quite frankly most of them are bigger than 'Joker', so our biggest fear was coming off as boring to that crowd that is used to some pretty spectacular action. But it felt like they’ve become such a big thing that we could use that space and do something a little bit different in it," Phillips told Variety.
"We wanted to create something meaningful, that really stayed with you after you left the theater. There’s so much work involved. No movie is easy. So you want something that really lasts," he continued.
Even though there were some reservations about stepping into the superhero genre, 'Joker' became Warner Bros.' highest-grossing movie of 2019. Earning $1.066 billion worldwide, it was the 7th biggest earning film this year and the third-best DC Comics film.
On what he wanted out of filming this movie, Phillips said, "I’ve never been a fan of other people determining who I am or what my tastes are. Making Joker wasn’t a reaction to having made raucous comedies. It was just something that seemed interesting to me and thought we could do something really cool."
In 'Joker: Vision & Fury', a making-of special feature that was included in the film's home release, Phillips said he shared concerns with movie star Joaquin Phoenix on portraying a realistic view of a character that was previously played by incredible actors such as Heath Ledger and Jack Nicholson. "Joaquin certainly had a ton of questions, and I think he also had the same thing I had, which is this fear — this is a big thing to take on. This isn’t going to be a small, little anonymous film. The Joker’s been interpreted and done so many times over the years, and I think there hasn’t been a bad one yet. So there’s a certain fear," said Phillip.
