Joaquin Phoenix and Tom Hardy have landed massive paydays to star in the sequels to Warner Bros.' Joker and Sony's Venom: There Will Be Carnage.
Variety reports the actors will each earn $20 million to reprise their roles. Phoenix earned $4.5 million to play Arthur Fleck in Todd Phillips' 2019 psychological thriller Joker, which grossed more than $1 billion worldwide Phoenix's performance earned the actor an Academy Award for Best Actor. The sequel is moving forward under the working title Joker: Folie à Deux ("Madness for Two").
Hardy, meanwhile, reportedly earned $7 million to play journalist turned symbiote host Eddie Brock in 2018's Venom. Produced on a budget of about $100 million, the film became a surprise hit for Sony, with a global haul of $856 million. Although Hardy's salary for the 2021 sequel, Let There Be Carnage, hasn't been revealed, it's thought to be about double that of the first film. Although more critically acclaimed than the original, the sequel wasn't as financially successful: It earned $507 million worldwide, in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Joker and Venom Sequels Are Already in the Works
Hardy worked with screenwriter Kelly Marcel (Saving Mr. Banks, Cruella) for the story of both films, and did the same for the third. He confirmed just last month that he and Marcel are at work on the script.
The first entries in Sony's Spider-Man Universe -- a shared universe featuring characters associated with Marvel's wall-crawler -- Venom and its sequel seemed to fuel the studio's plans for a rapid expansion of the franchise. However, the critical and commercial failure of Morbius may have pared back expectations. Spider-Man spinoffs featuring Kraven the Hunter, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Madame Web, starring Dakota Johnson. Madame Webb's released date shifted this week from July 7, 2023, to Oct. 6, 2023.
Written Phillips and Scott Silver, the creative force behind Joker, the sequel was reportedly a priority for new Warner Bros. Discovery CEO David Zaslav. That makes sense, of course, considering Joker is the second-highest grossing DC Comics-based movie of all time, behind Aquaman. It also confirmed the wisdom of producing DC films disconnected from the continuity of the so-called DC Cinematic Universe. It's an approach continued by director Matt Reeves with 2022's The Batman.
Phillips signaled as early as 2019 that he was open to a Joker sequel, despite making the original as a complete story. (Although the film has a clear ending, Arthur Fleck's escape from Arkham State Hospital certainly leaves open the door to a follow-up.)
"I mean, I’d love to work with him [Phoenix] on anything, quite frankly," Phillips said. "So who knows? But it would have to have a real thematic resonance the way this one did, ultimately being about childhood trauma and the lack of love, and the loss of empathy."
Neither Venom 3 nor Joker: Folie à Deux has a release date.
Source: Variety