Back when Warner Bros. first got the ball rolling on what would become JOKER, initital reports stated that Martin Scorsese (THE IRISHMAN) was onboard to produce the film. As the project moved forward, it became clear that Scorsese wouldn't be involved, although his long-time producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff ultimately would be, and while speaking with the BBC (via IndieWire), Scorsese revealed that he did toy with the idea of making JOKER for four years before he decided to walk away.
I know the film very well. I know [director Todd Phillips] very well. My producer Emma Tillinger Koskoff produced it. I thought about it a lot over the last four years and decided I did not have the time for it. It was personal reasons why I didn’t get involved. But I know the script very well. It has a real energy and Joaquin. You have remarkable work.
At the end of the day, Scorsese was turned off by taking the big step of turning the character of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix) into a comic-book character. "For me, ultimately, I don’t know if I make the next step into this character developing into a comic book character," Scorsese said. "You follow? He develops into an abstraction. It doesn’t mean it’s bad art, it’s just not for me…It's different from the superhero films, it's very different. The superhero films, as I’ve said, are another art form. They're not easy to make. There’s a lot of very talented people doing good work and a lot of young people really, really enjoy them." Of course I don't need to remind you that Scorsese and others have been in the news lately for their comments about comic-book movies, with Scorsese even saying that they aren't real cinema and have more in common with theme park rides. While I would have been more than interested to see what Scorsese's touch could have brought to JOKER, it's clear that the film didn't need any help as it's rapidly approaching $1 billion worldwide, quite the feat for an R-rated movie about a murderous clown.
JOKER is still playing in theaters, and Martin Scorsese's THE IRISHMAN is also playing in select theaters before it debuts on Netflix on November 27th.