'Joker' Director Todd Phillips Is Reportedly Signed on to Write a Sequel

Joker 2 is reportedly being written by the original movie's director Todd Phillips.

The news was shared by The Hollywood Reporter in a profile piece on industry lawyers, with a write-up on attorney Warren Dern stating that Oscar-nominee Phillips – one of Dern's clients – had struck a deal to co-write the next installment.

Bear in mind that we still don't have any official confirmation from those involved that a sequel to the box office hit is definitely happening.

Related: Joker had an Easter egg linking to Tim Burton's Batman that you likely missed

THR reported in 2019 that Phillips was in talks to return as director for a follow-up and that he would the script with Scott Silver, who worked on the first movie's screenplay.

However, Phillips played down the suggestion, saying of the story: "I have to be honest, it came out of nowhere. It referred to a meeting that was never had. I thought it was anticipatory at best."

If it is indeed going ahead, the biggest question mark hanging over the sequel right now is whether or not Joaquin Phoenix will reprise his character Arthur Fleck, who closed out the 2019 psychological thriller running rampant in Arkham Asylum.

Related: Dark Joker theory solves a big mystery about the DC movie

Previously, Phillips confirmed he had three Joker stories in mind when he first pitched the project to the studio.

"I pitched it as three movies, Joker being the first with me, and then these two other movies, with two other directors," he revealed.

"But I don't really want to name them, because then it'll become a thing and I'm pulling these directors into it when I've never even told them about it. It was just me telling Warner Bros about it."

On his approach to a sequel if one ever happened, the writer/director also commented: "It couldn't just be this wild and crazy movie about the 'Clown Prince of Crime'. It would have to have some thematic resonance in a similar way that [Joker] does."

Joker is available to buy on Blu-ray or streaming now.

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