Joaquin's Comments Put A Joker Sequel In Serious Jeopardy

It appears Joaquin Phoenix is out to leave a few patently unhappy faces on the Warner Brothers bosses who financed Joker.

Though the film has danced its way to nearly a billion dollars at the box office since hitting theaters, Phoenix whose entrancing performance as the deeply disturbed man behind the iconic Batman villain has driven much of the film's success is reportedly not quite as on board with a return engagement as one might think. If his comments in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times are any indication, his participation in a potential Joker sequel is far from a given. The actor explained,

"I guess the fear was that you'd get locked into doing something repeatedly that you don't really care about, that doesn't motivate you or excite you. Part of the whole attraction to me [of Joker] was there was no expectation. I didn't sign a deal to do [more films]. It was a one-off. I wouldn't just do a sequel just because the first movie is successful. That's ridiculous."

The Times interview comes a full month after the release of Joker, which has become the highest grossing R-rated movie of all time, is on track to join the billion dollar movie club in the very near future, and is fully expected to be a major player come awards season. Needless to say, success like that has led to a lot of talk around a franchise-obsessed Hollywood about whether or not there will be a sequel to Joker.

Phoenix who's somehow managed to never appear in any sort of sequel across a career of nearly four decades has remained clear that a return to the twisted mind of Arthur Fleck isn't out of the question, but he's been just as adamant that it'll take another truly compelling story to get him to suit up for any Joker sequel.

It's also pretty clear that simply flashing some extra green in Phoenix's face won't do the actor's statement implies he's definitely not in it just for the money. Still, he admitted that he had talked a bit with Joker director Todd Phillips about a follow-up movie, saying,

"Long before the release or before we had any idea if it would be successful, we talked about sequels. In the second or third week of shooting, I was like, 'Todd, can you start working on a sequel? There's way too much to explore.' It was kind of in jest but not really." Keep watching the video to see how Joaquin's comments put a Joker sequel in serious jeopardy!

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