Aside from last year’s BLACK PANTHER, when you think about comic book movies you don’t normally think of them as awards season contenders that will sweep up the end-of-the-year gold. But, as it has been made abundantly clear by the trailer, DC’s new JOKER movie is not your average comic book movie, and some believe it has a shot at some serious prizes – mostly for what looks like a breathtaking Joaquin Phoenix performance. Some signs point to Warner Bros. looking to give the movie an awards season run, including a report that they are showing the movie at the Venice Film Festival prior to its October release.
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Deadline has heard from sources that with Warner Bros. sitting out Comic-Con this year they will instead be looking to give JOKER a “fall springboard” that includes debuting the movie at Venice. The festival has become a notable launchpad for Oscar contenders, with three of the last five Best Picture winners debuting there, with movies like ROMA and SHAPE OF WATER winning the coveted Golden Lion the last two years.
The festival is also a big fan of Phoenix, giving him a much-deserved Best Actor prize for his work in THE MASTER in 2012. WB itself is no stranger to the festival, and as it’s become more and more notable as the first major festival of awards season, they’ve brought eventual Oscar contenders A STAR IS BORN, GRAVITY and more to screen. These movies have also received coveted October slots like JOKER, so perhaps WB has far more confidence in their film beyond getting in curious fans of the character.
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Speaking of the character, the iconic Batman villain has a notable history with Oscars. While BLACK PANTHER may have been the first comic book movie to be nominated for Best Picture, 2008's THE DARK KNIGHT was the first movie to crack the ceremony in a big way. Beyond being nominated for a slew of Oscars it walked away for the trophy for Best Supporting Actor for Heath Ledger's stirring turn as the character, which many today view as the pinnacle depiction.
The first trailer for JOKER received widespread acclaim, not only thanks to Phoenix's incredible work but also for director Todd Phillip's approach that leans more closely to an intimate character study than a traditional comic book movie. The movie has drawn comparisons to classic Martin Scorsese movies like TAXI DRIVER and THE KING OF COMEDY, and it also features the star of those movies, Robert De Niro. Only time will tell if it can live up to those comparisons, but it seems WB is confident enough in what they have to screen it in over a month early.
JOKER is in theaters October 4.