CBR

Joker openly takes its inspiration from such Scorsese films as Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy. 1 / 8

Director Todd Phillips spoke about this at Joker's Venice premiere... 2 / 8

...elaborating on the film's '70s (and early '80s) influence. 3 / 8

Phillips cites Taxi Driver, King of Comedy and Raging Bull... 4 / 8

...as well as One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and Serpico. 5 / 8

Phillips' goal with Joker was to capture the spirit of these old school character studies. 6 / 8

"If you get a great actor and great people behind it, we could really do something special.” 7 / 8

Joker arrives in theaters Oct. 4. 8 / 8