How did JokerMovie become something audiences seem to be simultaneously scared of and clamoring to see? Here's a timeline of the fall's most controversial movie
“It’s been a leading, trending story for about six weeks now, and that’s a lot more spotlight and attention than a normal film could count on getting.” Photo: Warner Bros. When Joker hits 4,300 theater screens across North America on Friday, it will arrive cloaked in the kind of buzz that a studio distributor like Warner Bros. would surely prefer to avoid: concern that the gritty drama will inspire people who perpetrate gun violence in America.
August 2017 Warner Bros. reveals its intention to mount a movie detailing the origins of Joker — not the Joker, thank you very much — hoping to enlist Martin Scorsese as an executive producer and to entice Leonardo DiCaprio to slather on grease for the titular role. But when Jared Leto, who portrays the Joker in 2016’s Suicide Squad and is contractually obliged to reprise the character in another DC Universe spin-off sequel, learns of the rival Joker project, he’s caught off guard.
Note: One day before the script leaked, Universal announced that The Hunt, a movie about a group of Americans who are kidnapped and dropped off in a rural area in Europe to be hunted for sport by rich people, would be indefinitely shelved following its own cycle of controversy. September 20 A visibly agitated Phoenix storms out of an interview with U.K.’s The Telegraph after being asked if he was worried Joker “might perversely end up inspiring exactly the kind of people it’s about, with potentially tragic results.” September 23 Five family members and friends of the 12 people killed during the Aurora shooting send a letter to Warner Bros.
Later that afternoon, the studio — which donated $2 million to victims and survivors of the Aurora shooting massacre in 2012 — responds to the family members’ and friends’ letter with a cordial but firmly worded statement. “Gun violence in our society is a critical issue, and we extend our deepest sympathy to all victims and families impacted by these tragedies,” it reads. “At the same time, Warner Bros.
September 28 Texas-based Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas, a 40-location theater chain, announces it will beef up security specifically for Joker screenings over the movie’s theatrical debut. “[We] will have additional security personnel present at each location for the comfort of our staff and guests,” Alamo says in a statement.
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