Alec Baldwin is joining the ‘Joker’ origins movie which is to star Joaquin Phoenix in the title role. The actor last appeared on the big screen in the blockbuster of the season, ‘Mission: Impossible – Fallout.’
Warner Bros. confirmed the movie had gotten the green light last month. The studio described it as more of a dark character study than a thriller, and has allocated it a relatively modest budget of $55 million.
‘Joker’ will be directed by Todd Phillips (‘The Hangover’ trilogy, ‘Old School’, ‘War Dogs’) with a script from Scott Silver (‘8 Mile,’ ‘The Fighter’). Martin Scorsese is an executive producer.
According to Deadline, Baldwin will play the role of Thomas Wayne, who is Bruce Wayne/Batman’s father. The respected physician and philanthropist is murdered while leaving a theatre in an incident witnessed by his son. It inspires Bruce to become a vigilante.
In the early comics, and in the first of Christopher Nolan’s ‘Dark Knight’ trilogy, ‘Batman Begins’, Wayne’s murderer is Joe Chill. However, the first Tim Burton ‘Batman’ movie in 1989 portrayed the Joker as the culprit, so the new ‘Joker’ film may take that same line.
Other cast members confirmed for ‘Joker’ include Robert De Niro as a talk-show host who is partly responsible for the Joker's descent into madness, and ‘Deadpool 2’ star Zazie Beetz, who will play Sophie Dummond, a single mother who catches the interest of the man who will become the "clown prince of crime."
Marc Maron of ‘Glow’ fame and Frances Conroy have also been cast in the film.
‘Joker’ will hit cinemas on October 4th, 2019.
