Vera Drew, director and star of the unlicensed DC Comics film The People's Joker, says there will be further screenings following its removal from the Toronto Film Festival."The eve of our premiere… a media conglomerate that shall remain nameless sent me an angry letter (misreported as a 'cease and desist') pressuring to not screen," Drew wrote in a statement released on Twitter. "Any other film festival would have pulled us immediately, but after being fully transparent with TIFF, we agreed to premiere as planned while scaling back our later screenings to mitigate potential blowback." The People's Joker was shown for a single screening at TIFF's Midnight Madness section before Drew pulled it from subsequent screenings on the festival's schedule.RELATED: Joker 2 Casts Maze Runner Actor as a 'Key' Arkham Asylum Character[EMBED_TWITTER]https://twitter.com/VeraDrew22/status/1570594134502821888[/EMBED_TWITTER]"It was disappointing (especially since I went to great lengths with legal counsel to have it fall under parody/fair use) but I made this choice to protect our film’s future and to protect our new friends at TIFF who have been some of TPJ’s biggest advocates," Drew continued. "The People’s Joker will screen again very soon at several other festivals worldwide. We are humbly seeking a distribution partner who believes in what we are doing, will protect us, and will eventually help us make this film accessible to trans people and their families everywhere."When The People's Joker was pulled from the schedule, TIFF noted on its official website that "the filmmaker has withdrawn this film due to rights issues," and Drew initially posted about the removal on her Twitter shortly afterward, saying, "Stay tuned and stay with me."RELATED: Joker 2 Is Using Harley Quinn - But It Could’ve Redeemed Another Batman VillainWarner Bros. Discovery has not made a statement regarding The People's Joker, though the company holds the exclusive rights to all characters under the DC Comics umbrella, which includes the iconic Batman villain, The Joker. The parody film was also scheduled to show at Fantastic Fest and Beyond Fest in September following its debut at TIFF, though its future currently remains unclear. In a recent interview, Drew stated her belief that the film "can 100% be distributed" and is "completely protected under fair use and copyright law."She continued, "The only thing that makes it weird in both of those categories is nobody's ever taken characters and IP and really personalized it in this way. So I think that's the thing that really kind of makes it seem a lot more dangerous than I actually think it is. I mean, I get it, look, I put an 'illegal comic book movie' on the poster, but that was just to get your butts in the seats. Mission accomplished."The People's Joker was described in promotional material as "an illegal queer coming of age comic book movie." It follows the Joker, played by Drew, whose failing comedy career leads to an addiction to Smylex gas, which was used by Jack Nicolson's Joker in 1989's Batman. Per the synopsis, the Joker opens an illegal comedy club in Gotham City after comedy itself has been criminalized. "Disillusioned by a botched audition, Vera partners with a birdlike slacker to found their own alternative comedy troupe, attracting not only a rogues’ gallery of would-be comics, but also the ire of a fascistic caped crusader," the synopsis reads.Source: Twitter