Since Joker arrived in theaters at the beginning of this month, it’s been on quite a tear at the box office. This past weekend the movie passed $800 million worldwide, and topped both Deadpool and Deadpool 2 as the new highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time in the process.

As has become customary when a movie beats another movie’s record at the box office, congratulations were in order. And with Ryan Reynolds being the star of the Deadpool franchise, you knew it was going to be a good one. Reynolds sent out a tweet offering congratulations, and did so in a completely fitting way for the new R-rated champ. You can see what he shared below.

Joker
Director: Todd Phillips
Writer: Todd Phillips, Scott Silver
Cast: Joaquin Phoenix, Robert De Niro, Zazie Beetz, Frances Conroy
Distributor: Warner Bros.
Rated R | Minutes: 122
Release Date: October 4, 2019

One of the worse things that a writer and director can do in a comic book film adaptation is misinterpret the source material. It is one thing to re-envision it in order to suit a vision of the story that you want to tell, but it is something else when you go far off the edge just to prove you can be the bleakest of the lot. That is what Todd Phillip‘s Joker does. Using Gotham City as a canvas, the film is painted with the colors of Martin Scorsese inspiration and the complexities of heavy themes of mental illness and social inequality, with a slight touch of DC, all of which makes Joker a dark, depressing, and gritty hardboiled crime drama that also happens to be the origins story for the clown prince of crime. The story delves into the mind of the lonely title character, played brilliantly by Joaquin Phoenix, who has been dumped on by society. But as fascinating as the lead performance is, everything else about it lacks complexities and nuance, and only further stigmatizes those who do suffer from mental illness.

My full review here below.

Warner Bros.’ Joker, from director Todd Phillips, promises to be a deep character study of one of the greatest Batman villains. Starring Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Clown Prince of Crime, the standalone film will be something that is separate from whatever is going on in the DC Extended Universe, and that strategy may prove to be of benefit as it will allow the studio to release darker and more mature material that do not follow the conventional rules of a comic book movie.

Now we are getting another look at the film in the form of the final trailer. Check it out along with a poster below.

Back in March we saw a teaser trailer for the latest feature from Noah Hawley, titled Lucy in the Sky, which stars Natalie Portman as an astronaut who has an experience while on a mission which causes her to struggle with everyday life when she returns home. Starring alongside Portman is Jon Hamm, Zazie Beetz, Dan Stevens, Colman Domingo, Ellen Burstyn, Nick Offerman, Tig Notaro, Pearl Amanda Dickson, and Jeffrey Donovan.

Now Fox Searchlight has released an official trailer for the movie. You can find more info on Lucy in the Sky and check out the new trailer along with a poster below.

While most comic book movies borrow directly from the source material, they aren’t necessarily direct adaptations.

Todd Phillips‘ Joker, which stars Joaquin Phoenix as the title character, may fit into that category as it will not be inspired by the comics and will present an original character-driven story. Check out the full report below.