Following Joker: Folie à Deux's disastrous opening weekend, a number of reports have emerged about some of the behind-the-scenes drama surrounding the production, including director Todd Phillips' apparent aversion to working with DC Studios' new head honchos.
Variety revealed some new details in a report on Tuesday, saying Phillips wanted "nothing to do with DC" despite the fact that James Gunn and Peter Safran were named co-CEOs of DC Studios just a couple of months before Joker: Folie à Deux began production. According to the report, Phillips "balked" at the idea of working with DC Studios' new leadership, only liaising with Warner Bros. motion picture group chiefs Michael De Luca and Pamela Abdy.
It's also noted that DC Studios' new logo doesn't appear at the beginning of Joker: Folie à Deux, which the Variety report says made it "apparent that Phillips had just given DC the middle finger." DC Studios' new logo has appeared at the front of other recent DC-related projects including HBO series The Penguin and Christopher Reeve documentary Super/Man.
A Warner Bros. rep, however, pointed out that the logo appears at the end of Joker: Folie à Deux. The Variety article also notes that Gunn and Safran were absent at the September 30 Los Angeles premiere of Joker: Folie à Deux, to which a DC Studios rep told Variety that Gunn was busy shooting Peacemaker Season 2 in Atlanta while Safran was sick.
Gunn, an unusually transparent executive/creative on social media, has not yet commented on the report. IGN has also reached out to DC Studios for further comment.
Meanwhile, The Hollywood Reporter ran a report of its own on Monday, revealing other details about what seems to be an unusual production. For one, it was reportedly star Joaquin Phoenix who pushed for a sequel to 2019's billion-dollar hit Joker after the idea came to him in a dream. He and Phillips had also considered doing a Broadway musical before committing to the sequel.
Spoiler for the end of Joker: Folie à Deux below.
The THR report also has an interesting detail about the ending of Joker: Folie à Deux, one of the most controversial aspects of the sequel. The film ends with Arthur Fleck being killed in prison by a character we haven't seen before (played by Connor Storrie), who then carves a smile into his own face.
According to the THR report, the first Joker film originally ended with a similar visual, with Arthur knifing a smile into his face in front of a group of supporters. Apparently, Christopher Nolan, who was still at WB at the time, "killed that idea, believing that only his Joker (Heath Ledger) should carve his face," per the report. Nolan and WB had a very public breakup following the studio's decision to move its entire 2021 film slate to streaming service Max, and Nolan is now at Universal.
Both reports provide some interesting peeks behind the scenes at what will likely end up as a major flop. On the heels of negative reviews and poor word of mouth, Joker: Folie à Deux opened to an abysmal $37.8 million this past weekend — less than half of what its predecessor earned in its debut. Box office analysts told IGN that the opening weekend results mark an "unmitigated disaster" for Warner Bros., and there's likely little chance of the film recovering in the ensuing weekends.
For more on Joker: Folie à Deux, check out our breakdown on how its biggest surprise is a repeat of a controversial Marvel moment.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she's not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
