Todd Phillips is done with DC following his two Joker movies.
Against all odds, Phillips got his first Joker movie made which was a surprise smash bringing in a billion dollars at the box office at only a cost of $55 million.
So the sequel was greenlit and Phillips was allowed a hefty budget of $200 million for his “Folie à Deux” which would see Joaquin Phoenix back as the Clown Prince of Crime adding Lady Gaga as a version of Harley Quinn in some sort of musical.
Days before this weekend’s premiere of Joker 2, Todd Phillips told THR he’s done with DC when asked if he is interested in doing a standalone movie with Lady Gaga.
“It’s not really where this movie is headed for me. I feel like my time in the DC Universe was these two films,” he said, with the article also noting Phillips previously said he has no interest in Joker 3.
Well, Joker 2 debuted Thursday (along with Monday fan screenings) and is currently performing 50% less than the first Joker at the box office.
The reviews from both the critics and the fans haven’t been nearly as good. Well, that’s the understatement of the year, as the reviews have been blasting the flick and say the sequel is downright awful. The Rotten Tomatoes scores from the critics and the fans are both at 36%.
Phillips got to make his first movie, which was balked at by the studio. It got released, people went to see it and loved it. It doesn’t appear that Phillips was able to get lightning to strike twice. There is even the question if he wanted to.
He’s also now being blamed for the failure.
Next up for DC is the James Gunn DCU with Creature Commandos in December followed by Superman in July. The Penguin has been a smash hit, so it’s not like DC is dead. Matt Reeves also has The Batman 2 in the works.
