Todd Phillips Is Now Open To A 'Joker' Sequel, But Only If It Has "Thematic Resonance"

From the outset, Todd Phillips was determined to not direct a Joker sequel. Phillips made it clear that he only directed the wildly successful film as a standalone feature, with no plans to continue the story of the Batman rogue. But following the massive box office success of Joker, which is expected to clear $1 billion worldwide by the end of the week, Phillips may be starting to change his thinking on coming back for a Joker sequel.

In an interview with  The LA Times, Philips revealed that he's now open to doing a sequel — but only under specific conditions:

"It couldn't just be this wild and crazy movie about the 'Clown Prince of Crime.' It would have to have some thematic resonance in a similar way that this does. Because I think that's ultimately why the movie connected, it's what's going on underneath. So many movies are about the spark, and this is about the powder. If you could capture that again in a real way, that would be interesting."

The unspoken condition is, of course, the paycheck, which Warner Bros. is sure to raise with the record-setting box office success of Joker. And its profits won't stop there: the dark crime film is on track to earn up to $464 million after "global theatrical, TV and home entertainment windows," tying it with Avengers: Infinity War as most profitable comic book movie.

But this is a big change of heart for Phillips, who has repeatedly emphasized that Joker was a one-and-done situation. However the unexpected box office success seems to have gotten to the director and even his blockbuster-phobic star Joaquin Phoenix, who signed onto Joker under the condition that it would be a one-time outing. But Phoenix has recently warmed to the idea of continuing Arthur Fleck's story, if the right script came around. But we probably can't count on him facing off against Robert Pattinson's Batman any time soon.