Joaquin Phoenix pranked Todd Phillips on set with Joker 2 posters

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

It's been just over a month since Todd Phillips' JOKER laughed its way into theaters. The film has received both critical acclaim and derision, with some hailing it as a masterpiece, while others going so far as to call the film "dangerous." Oh yeah, it's also crushing at the box office. With only a modest budget of $60 million, the film has grossed almost $950 million worldwide and seems destined to crack the $1 billion mark. When a film this successful makes this much bank, talks of a possible sequel are almost inevitable.

Although JOKER was constructed as a self-contained film, there's plenty of wiggle room for a possible sequel. Joaquin Phoenix may not be up for the task though, as he's stated repeatedly that he doesn't want to do a sequel just because the film is successful. The appeal for him was that JOKER was a one-off and it wouldn't lock him into multiple films. (You may recall that that last was one of the reasons Phoenix passed on DOCTOR STRANGE.) However, Phoenix's reticence didn't stop him from exploring the possibility of a JOKER sequel on set, if only in a joking manner.

You see Phoenix thought it would be a good idea to express his feelings regarding a JOKER sequel in poster form. As such, he enlisted the talents of their on set photographer and the results were, well, decidedly prankish:

“I basically said, ‘You could take this character and put him in any movie,’” Phoenix said. “So I did a photo shoot with the on-set photographer and we made posters where I photoshopped Joker into 10 classic movies: Rosemary’s Baby, Raging Bull, Yentl. If you see it, you’re like, ‘Yeah, I’d watch that movie.’ Yentl with Joker? That would be amazing!”

I don't care what you say, that's just freakin' funny. I just had a vision of Joker being photoshopped into a poster of HOWARD'S END and started giggling. What makes this story fascinating is that Phoenix comes off as a very straight-laced serious actor, so for him to be clowning around like this is just awesome.

While I'm certain a JOKER sequel is being discussed in the halls of Hollywood, Phillips was very specific about what it should and should not be:

“We’ve only talked about the fact that if we ever did one — and I’m not saying we are because right now we’re not — it couldn’t just be this wild and crazy movie about the ‘Clown Prince of Crime, that just doesn’t interest us. It would have to have some thematic resonance in a similar way that this does.”

I 100% agree with Phillips in this case. You can't have a film like the JOKER and then totally flip the tone in the second film. Furthermore, although some fans have been clamoring for Phoenix to show up at some point in Matt Reeves' BATMAN films, I'm not sure if those two worlds would mesh well.

What about you guys? Are you interested in a JOKER sequel? Do you feel audiences and studios should be content with what we got? Sound off in the comments below.