Joker spoilers ahead!
Can’t get enough of Joker? We may never get a sequel to Todd Phillips’ phenomenon-inducing film about the Clown Prince of Crime, but even if we don’t get more of Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, we can still dig deeper into the film we have. To that end, ahead of the movie’s 6th weekend in theaters, Joker director Todd Phllips has shared some more behind-the-scenes set photos from the making of the hugely successful DC film. Take a look:
Like the film itself, these set photos from Joker are beautifully composed and completely stunning. Despite the camera equipment and crew present, they very much strike the same tone and feel like they could be frames from the movie itself, which makes sense because Todd Phillips credits them to Joker cinematographer Lawrence Sher as well as still photographer Niko Tavernise.
In the first image on Todd Phillips’ Instagram, you really get a sense of the physical transformation Joaquin Phoenix underwent to play Arthur Fleck because he looks unhealthy, gangly and misshapen here. It’s also just cool to see an actor of his caliber, who gives such an impressive performance in the film, behind-the-scenes doing his thing as the movie was coming together.
Todd Phillips also shared an image of himself and Joaquin Phoenix together at the diner, which is nice to see. After all, it turns out that poor Arthur Fleck didn’t really have a sweet date with Zazie Beetz’s Sophie (who it turns out he didn’t kill) there, so at least the guy wasn’t entirely alone.
The picture of Joaquin Phoenix on the couch, in the apartment Arthur Fleck shares with his mother, with a gun under his chin is particularly striking as well in black and white. With frames such as this and the later one of Joaquin with his head against the wall in the bathroom, I get the feeling that Joker will inspire plenty of art, beyond what it already has. That's in addition to the deluge of influencers and fans invading the film’s now infamous stairs.
It’s not all just pretty pictures, though. Todd Phillips also shared a look at Arthur Fleck’s joke notebook complete with some real zingers. The jokes are quite telling because while they are undeniably corny and punny, they also reflect an incredible amount of darkness and pain, speaking to Arthur’s anxieties, his self-loathing and his mental illness.
Todd Phillips, who has been sharing set photos and addressing theories and questions about the film since it released, made sure to let fans know that they shouldn’t read into anything with these pictures. He seemingly just wanted to celebrate the film a little more as it heads into its sixth weekend in theaters.
Remarkably, Todd Phillips’ Joker will enter the weekend having spent the past five weekends in either first or second place at the box office. Joker has made over $900 million and is the biggest R-rated movie ever, with $1 billion worldwide in its sights. With all the controversy and handwringing about the film, the last laugh, unquestionably, belongs to Todd Phillips.
Joker is now playing, and presumably will be for a while. Check out the rest of the movies hitting theaters this year in our 2019 Release Schedule.
