Trivia / Joker (2019)

Trivia with Their Own Pages

• What Could Have Been

Trivia Tropes:

• Adaptation Overdosed: The film features the third live-action Bruce Wayne in 2019 alone (the others being the final season of Gotham and the second season of Titans before, and since joined by a fourth in Crisis on Infinite Earths), the third live-action Alfred Pennyworth (after the final season of Gotham and the first season of Pennyworth) as well as the third live-action Joker incarnation in the decade (after Suicide Squad and Gotham, and second in 2019 after the latter), although it's kind of fitting for the Batman franchise's 80th anniversary. While we're here, the death of Bruce's parents is reenacted yet again.
• Approval of God: Joker veteran Mark Hamill expressed his utmost praise for the film on Instagram.
  "The awesome Joaquin Phoenix, Todd Phillips and Scott Silver brilliantly reimagine the character as never seen before! 2 thumbs up from that old-school, comic book version... me."
• Awesome, Dear Boy:
  • Joaquin Phoenix has said he wanted to do the film because the idea of it scared him and he liked the challenge. He was also interested in the idea of playing a comic book character without committing to multiple sequels. That said, Todd Phillips claimed that after the movie's release, Phoenix was the one pitching him ideas for sequels.
  • Marc Maron, who has a rather well-documented dislike of modern comic book movies with the Marvel Cinematic Universe being the most prevalent, said he agreed to take part in the film because getting a chance to work with Robert De Niro and Joaquin Phoenix was too big an opportunity to pass up.
• Beam Me Up, Scotty!:
  • One of the most popular memes derived from the film is of Murray saying, "You're laughing. [X happened], and you're laughing." This is a slight misquote of the actual line, which is formatted as "[X happened], and you're laughing. You're laughing."^note Murray was talking about two cops being in critical condition because of Arthur's actions before he started laughing.
  • While often associated with this film, neither Arthur nor anyone else says "We live in a society"; the closest we get is Arthur's single use of the word "society" in his rant on Murray's talk show. The meme is actually older, originating with the release of The Dark Knight...which also doesn't include the line.
• Content Leak: A version of the script leaked in mid-May 2019. It's unclear if was the shooting script or a draft. Whatever it was, it was verified as legitimate when the film released—albeit with some changes.
• Creator's Oddball:
  • You wouldn't expect Todd Phillips — the man who brought us the Hangover trilogy — to direct a DC comics-based film, let alone such a dramatic one. This isn't the first time he's directed against type, though.
    • It makes more sense when you consider that Phillips directed the 1993 documentary Hated, concerning the final days of GG Allin, another deeply disturbed man who lashed out at a society he perceived as having let him down.
  • For DC Films itself. The studio was initially created to shepherd the DC Extended Universe, with the focus being on blockbuster franchise films. Joker is the first comic book film produced by them to deviate from this formula, instead being a standalone Protagonist Journey to Villain character study without a superheroic figure and no major use of CGI or action scenes.
• Dear Negative Reader: Joaquin Phoenix talked about reading a review where people with conflicting opinions on the film debated it. He admitted to getting some of his pride hurt by the negative reactions but found himself fascinated by how he felt both sides of the argument had good points.
• Deleted Scene:
  • The scene of the leaked filming footage that showed Arthur interacting in the street with Randall, with only Randall dressed as a clown. Arthur takes Randall's clown nose and throws it on the ground. The trailer also has shots such as Arthur walking down the hall of his apartment complex in the Joker make-up and outfit, while carrying the flower prop from an earlier scene, which don't appear in the final cut.
  • Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix have gently alluded to the existence of handful of deleted scenes, including a mysterious "bathtub scene" that Phillips described by saying "I don't think we can actually include it in an R-rated movie, and it's not because it was pornographic — it was just insane." For better and for worse, due to Phillips' distaste for extended cuts, it seems highly unlikely that any of the scenes or their content will ever see the light of day.
• Directed by Cast Member: The Canadian French dub was directed by Manuel Tadros, who also voiced Alfred.
• Doing It for the Art:
  • Todd Phillips requested that no merch would be produced around the film due to its nature. When pitching the movie to Warner Bros. executives, he was infamously told by some of them who doubted of its potential that they "can't sell pajamas with this version of the Joker".
  • Joaquin Phoenix stated that he always wanted to do a character study of a superhero or supervillain, but didn't want the strings that come attached with being involved in a franchise like the Marvel Cinematic Universe (as he turned down the title role for Doctor Strange). When he heard that Warner Bros. (which owns DC Comics and all related media) was looking to make a lower-budget standalone film that focused on The Joker, he became interested in the project since it was so similar to his previous idea.
• DVD Commentary: Todd Phillips has a great one on the Blu-Ray, filled with plenty of unique stories of the filming process and some surprisingly insightful info on the film's various themes and influences.
• Dyeing for Your Art: According to the director, Joaquin Phoenix lost 52 pounds for his role. It was so serious that filming could only be done once, with no opportunity for reshoots. As noted under What Could Have Been, Phoenix did not want to do this.
• Executive Veto: Cinematographer Lawrence Sher revealed that he and Todd Phillips wanted to shoot on 70mm film like The Hateful Eight, Dunkirk and The Rise of Skywalker, partially because Phillips prefers film stock, but Warner Bros. refused to let them, so they had to shoot digital.
• Hey, It's That Place!: For the fourth time, Webb Institute's Stevenson Taylor Hall was used for Wayne Manor.
• Hostility on the Set: Joaquin Phoenix and Robert De Niro had a clash during the earliest stage of filming. De Niro follows traditional rite of script read-through, a process that Phoenix dislikes. De Niro insisted that they do it, and Phoenix half-heartedly accepted, mumbling through the entire read-through. They reportedly settled their differences immediately, but on set they hardly ever spoke to each other outside of filming. They maintained that their disagreement was strictly professional, however, and Phoenix went on to say that De Niro is his favorite actor.
• Harpo Does Something Funny: There are multiple different takes of Arthur's entrance on Murray's show.
• Irony as She Is Cast: Robert De Niro, known for his intense dislike of interviews and appearing on talk shows, plays a talk show host.
• Orphaned Reference: The Ascended Meme of Joker blaming society for treating him like trash during his "another joke" with Murray Franklin, which was added by Joaquin Phoenix, makes his previous speech with the audience about the system choosing what's right and wrong lose some rhythm, as Arthur is meant to have said "system" during the "joke".
• The Other Darrin:
  • In Latin America, this film marks the first time The Joker is not voiced by José Antonio Macías, his usual voice actor since The Dark Knight, but by Mauricio Perez.
  • The same goes in Japan, when Hiroaki Hirata voices him instead of either Keiji Fujiwara^note Who has voiced him in The Dark Knight, Batman: The Brave and the Bold and Batman: Arkham Knight. or Takehito Koyasu.^note Who has voiced him in Suicide Squad and The LEGO Batman Movie.
• Playing Against Type: In the Japanese dub, Joker is voiced by Hiroaki Hirata, a role quite unlike the actor's usual forte.
• Revival by Commercialization: The film made the Gary Glitter song "Rock & Roll Part 2" a sensation again with its use in the stairs dance scene. This led to the LA Times having to clarify that Glitter himself has long since sold the commercial rights to the song in America, and none of the royalties are going into the pockets of a convicted paedophile.
• Role Reprise: In the Italian dub, Adriano Giannini dubbed this new incarnation of the Joker after his previous work with Ledger's in The Dark Knight.
• Similarly Named Works:
  • The 2008 comic book Joker by Brian Azzarello and Lee Bermejo has nothing in common with the film bar the Gotham City setting and title character (whose characterization is also different).
  • There is a 2016 Tamil language Indian movie titled Joker.
  • The French release title of the 2015 film Wild Card starring Jason Statham is also Joker. Amusingly, Boris Rehlinger (Statham's usual French dub voice) dubbed the protagonist in both films — Arthur Fleck/Joker and Nicholas "Nick" Escalante.
• Sleeper Hit: The film's creation was reluctantly approached by Warner Bros. executives due to its very uncharacteristic story for a comic-book movie and potentially controversial content; it took several months for the script to be approved and they gave the production a relatively low budget to try and dissuade the director. Analysts were also cautious due to it being so different from other comic-book movies, and while most expected the movie to make a profit regardless, nobody (not even Warner Bros. themselves) expected it to be the monster hit it ended up becoming. Joker became the first R-rated film to break one billion USD at the international box office (and without a Chinese release), and one of the most profitable comic-book movies of all time within a month of its release due to its low budget. There's no wonder it got a sequel officially announced (with the addition of Lady Gaga as costar, no less) in 2022, amidst a ruthless restructuring by Warner Bros. Discovery that saw many costly projects being scrapped otherwise (such as the Batgirl film).
• Streisand Effect: In the months leading up to the film's wide release, it was attacked endlessly by a number of American film critics, journalists, and bloggers who claimed its portrayal of the Joker would inspire "incel"/"white male resentment" violence and mass shootings. This escalated to the point where they even tried to get the film's release cancelled. As a result of the outcry, many police forces and even the US Army were put on alert on release day, and Warner Bros., tired of the attacks from the press, barred journalists from attending the red carpet premiere. That constant negative publicity and drama only served to increase interest among moviegoers to see what had riled up the media so badly.
• Throw It In!:
  • The scene of Arthur dancing in the bathroom after his first three kills was completely improvised by Phoenix, leading to one of the most memorable quiet moments in the film. In the script, Arthur simply runs into the bathroom, hides the gun, washes his face, and talks to himself while looking at the mirror. However, Phoenix had heard the "Bathroom Dance" composition from Hildur Guðnadóttir and requested to have it played in that scene as he came up with an alternate story beat. The rest is history.
  • The refrigerator scene was improvised.
  • During the fateful confrontation between Arthur and Murray, Arthur's scripted line was "What do you get, when you cross a mentally ill loner, with a system...", but Phoenix misremembered the line and said "with a society..." instead, making the scene an unintentional Ascended Meme. Phillips was so satisfied with Phoenix's intense performance that he decided doing another take with the original line wasn't worth it.
• Troubled Production: Clown mask rioter extras used for the subway chase scene reported that they were locked in the subway car for hours against union rules, and all their attempts to bring this up were ignored until some of them even had to urinate out the window. SAG stepped in upon hearing about the situation to closely monitor the production.
• Tourist Bump: The scene where Joker dances on the stairs caused a surge of tourism to the actual stairway in the Bronx.
• Word of God: According to this article, the only intentional Shout-Out (or "Easter egg") in the film to previous Batman incarnations was young Bruce sliding down the pole of his playset.
• Word of Saint Paul:
  • Cinematographer Lawrence Asher confirmed in an interview with /Film that Arthur did not kill Sophie.
  • Thomas Wayne's actor Brett Cullen believes that Arthur is indeed Thomas's son and played the role with this fact in mind.
• Writing by the Seat of Your Pants: Todd Phillips had to write the script during production.

Assorted Trivia:

• Joker has become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, unadjusted for inflation — having overtaken Deadpool 2 (which grossed $785 million) within its first month of release and grossing over $1 billion (which, to reiterate, makes it the first R-rated movie to do so). It also overtook the unadjusted global gross of The Dark Knight, which had the most successful modern live-action incarnation of the character up to this point. Due to these high returns and its modest budget, some analysts have suggested that Joker may be the most profitable movie based on comic books ever.
• Also notable for being the first comic book adaptation to win the Venice International Film Festival's Golden Lion, beating An Officer and a Spy, which was regarded as the favorite of the competition that year. On related note, it is, as of 2020, the highest grossing film to win Golden Lion award and one of big 3 film festival award. ^note In case if you are wondering, the highest grossing Golden Bear winner, as of late February 2020, is Hayao Miyazaki's Spirited Away and the highest grossing Palme d'Or winner is Bong Joon-ho's Parasite.
• It also scored 11 Academy Award nominations, and another 11 BAFTA noms, making it the most nominated comic book movie since Black Panther. It ended up winning two of said Oscars (Best Actor for Joaquin Phoenix and Best Original Score for Hildur Guðnadóttir), which also means the Joker is the second character who two different actors won Oscars for playing, after Vito Corleone from The Godfather Part I and Part II.
• In Italy, Arthur Fleck is voiced by actor Adriano Giannini, who is Joaquin Phoenix's Italian voice actor in a few other films. His father, actor Giancarlo Giannini, was Jack Nicholson's Italian voice actor, including in Tim Burton's Batman. So, in a sense, Arthur Fleck is Jack Napier's son there.
• The movie's logotype was custom-made by graphic designer Chad Danieley using a wood type letterpress, then digitized. Usually, designers would create a unique logotype by distressing a regular digital font in Photoshop or Illustrator.

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