'Joker' Movie With Joaquin Phoenix Gets Release Date And Title

Let news of this clown turn your frown upside down.

An origin movie about the Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix in the supervillain role is coming together rapidly.

It’s got a name “Joker” naturally and it’s scheduled to open Oct. 4, 2019, Warner Bros. announced Wednesday, per Deadline .

Word of the DC Comics stand-alone venture circulated last summer, and Phoenix’s potential involvement was reported  in February. But the deal was finalized only recently. Warner Bros. released some of the crucial details as Comic-Con began in San Diego this week.

According to The Hollywood Reporter , the film’s budget falls in the modest $55 million range and will begin shooting in September.

Warner Bros. called the Todd Phillips-directed movie an “exploration of a man disregarded by society [that] is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale,” Variety noted.

Phoenix will have some interesting shoes to fill for the role after it was essayed memorably on the big screen by stars such as Jack Nicholson, Heath Ledger (who posthumously won an Oscar for the part) and Jared Leto.

The world will be watching.