Joker And Harley Quinn Movie Writers Say Spinoff Is Like ‘Bad Santa’ Meets ‘This Is Us’
TheJokermovie starring Joaquin Phoenixhas everyone talking, but don’t forget: there’sanotherJoker movie in the works. This film would be set within the current DC Extended Universe as we know it and featureJared Leto’s Joker andMargot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. While this Joker/Harley movie hasn’t begun production yet, we now have an idea of what the film is about, thanks to writersGlenn FicarraandJohn Requa. The screenwriting duo dropped some info about the prospective film, claiming it’s going to (somehow) play out likeBad SantameetsThis Is Us.
Warner Bros. DC movies are in a strange place right now. After diminishing returns from the DCEU, the powers that be seem to be taking a “see what sticks” approach for the future. There’s aBirds of Preymovie in the works, featuring Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn. Then there’s that standaloneJokermovie starring Joaquin Phoenix, which isn’t connected to the DCEU at all. you may also throw yetanotherJoker movie into the mix – one that would bring back Jared Leto’s tattooed take on the character, first introduced inSuicide Squad.
Th Joker Harley Quinn movie is inspired by the comicMad Love, and would focus on Leto’s Joker and Robbie’s Harley Quinn, and their…complicated relationship. The script for this film has been turned in by Glenn Ficarra and John Requa, and in an interview withMetro, the writers revealed some curious details.
For one thing, the story features a role for Dr. Phil, the famed TV personality. “It is great,” Ficarra says. “The whole thing starts with Harley kidnapping Dr Phil. Played by Dr Phil hopefully. Because her and the Joker are having problems with their relationship. We had so much fun, I don’t know if we have had more fun writing a script in our career.”
Ficarra and Requa’s credits include the 2003 cult comedyBad Santa, and episodes of NBC’s weep-festThis Is Us. When it came time to pen their Joker and Harley movie, they decided to blend the sensibilities of those two very different projects together. “It was sort of like, we wroteBad Santaa couple of years ago, and it was that sensibility mixed with ourThis Is Ussensibility,” says Ficarra. “We kind of meshed them together. We were doing a relationship movie but with the sensibility of aBad Santa, fucked up, mentally deranged people. It was a lot of fun.”
This sounds…bad. Look, I don’t want to pre-judge something before it even exists, but all of this sounds terrible. A Dr. Phil cameo? That sounds like something from one of theScary Moviesequels. In fact, Dr. Phil had a cameo as himself inScary Movie 4– a movie that came out 12 years ago. The “Bad SantameetsThis Is Us” scenario doesn’t sound great, either. And while I think Margot Robbie has more to offer as Harley Quinn, I’d be perfectly happy never seeing Jared Leto’s Joker ever again. In short: I don’t like this.
Lucky for me, there’s a chance this movie will never see the light of day. “I don’t know where it is on the queue of DC movies,” Requa says in the interview, to which Ficarra adds: “We handed the script in and everybody loved it…But I don’t know when they are going to do it. Because I know that they want to doBirds Of Preyand they want to do Todd [Phillips]‘sJokerfilm first. Maybe ifBirds Of Preygoes well ours will be next.”
Maybe. Or maybe we can forget about this entirely!
