The People's Joker director and star Vera Drew petitions DC Studios co-CEO James Gunn to label her indie movie as a parody legally cleared for exhibition and distribution.
In a Twitter post from April 7, Drew wrote, "Today would be a great day for [James Gunn] to simply say '[The People's Joker] falls entirely under the definition of a parody and I see simply no reason why it [couldn't] be exhibited to the public and distributed." Drew added, "I checked with my attorney, liking this tweet could also suffice."
Drawing inspiration from the 2019 movie Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix, The People's Joker has been described in promotional materials as "an illegal queer coming of age comic book movie" that follows Drew's own Joker, a struggling comedian who develops an addiction to the Smylex gas featured in 1989's Batman. After comedy itself is criminalized in Gotham City, the Joker opens an underground comedy club that attracts "not only a rogues' gallery of would-be comics, but also the ire of a fascistic caped crusader."
How The People’s Joker Relates to DC and James Gunn
In Sep. 2022, The People's Joker was pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival. Drew stated at the time, "A media conglomerate that shall remain nameless sent me an angry letter (misreported as a 'cease and desist') pressuring to not screen." The film was shown for a single screening at the festival, which Drew lauded, saying, "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."
In Oct. 2022, Gunn was named co-CEO of DC Studios alongside Peter Safran. Now in control since November, Gunn has announced part of the course that he and Safran have charted for the DC Universe, which will see The Flash "reset everything" before Blue Beetle while Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom sets the stage for a new, multi-year plan. Although it falls outside Gunn and Safran's overarching first DCU chapter, "Gods and Monsters," DC Studios' sequel to Joker is slated to release in Oct. 2024, titled Joker: Folie à Deux.
DC's Joker Sequel Is Planned for 2024
As of writing, it is unclear if the active development of Joker: Folie à Deux holds any bearing on the legal situation for The People's Joker. Production on Joker: Folie à Deux wrapped in early April 2023, celebrated with a photo from director Todd Phillips of singer-actor Lady Gaga as the sequel's Harley Quinn. Reportedly a musical, Gaga stars in the project alongside Phoenix, returning in the film as Joker/Arthur Fleck.
Joker: Folie à Deux is scheduled to release in theaters on Oct. 4, 2024.
Source: Twitter