Joker might have enjoyed a wave of positive reviews from critics when it first made its global premiere in the Venice Film Festival last month, but the film also has its haters. This reportedly includes the DC Extended Universe's Joker star, Jared Leto.
The Hollywood Reporter has a detailed article breaking down Joker's journey to production, taking note of the early stages of the film when the project was still in the hands of Martin Scorsese. The highly-esteemed American-Italian filmmaker was once considered to direct the project, however, he moved on to influence the movie.
The article then goes on to reveal how Joker was greenlit and how Jared Leto felt about the film moving forward.
"Tsujihara greenlit Joker, which cost less than $70 million, leaving Jared Leto — who played Joker in Suicide Squad — alienated and upset by the move," the publication wrote.
This shouldn't really come as a surprise. Leto put a lot of effort into becoming DC's Joker in Suicide Squad. The Academy Award winning actor went all method when he prepared for the DCEU spinoff, emulating Gotham's Clown Prince of Crime even when he wasn't filming scenes for Suicide Squad. He gifted his castmates with strange gifts like wild hogs, anal beads, and dead rats.
Unfortunately, because of Warner Brother's intervention, much of Suicide Squad was changed before it was released, and a lot of Leto's parts were seemingly cut from the film.
We would understand why Leto would feel upset that Warner Brothers would greenlight another Joker movie without him in it. What's interesting though is that this is the very first time that we've officially heard about Leto's response to Todd Phillip's Joker movie.
Joker is currently screening in cinemas.
Read: Martin Scorsese Reportedly Sees Potential In DC Universe Despite Controversial Comment
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