Though earlier in the week it seemed that no-one wanted to point fingers, a new report in that went online yesterday has indicated that serious questions are now being asked in regards to the failure of “Joker: Folie à Deux”. Two people who are out of the fray are DC Studios chiefs James Gunn and Peter Safran. The piece indicates the film’s director Todd Phillips “wanted nothing to do with DC” during the making of the film – which can be seen with the lack of a DC Studios logo on the front of the movie.
In fact, there seems to be an internal disconnect as Phillips reportedly bypassed any oversight from the DC brand’s gatekeepers and only dealt with WB film chiefs Michael DeLuca and Pamela Abdy, not Gunn or Safran. Phillips met Warners CEO David Zaslav who allegedly was open to filming the project in Los Angeles if the director would make the sequel at a lower price point. Phillips reportedly insisted on shooting in Los Angeles and the film’s high budget was maintained.
Sources for the trade say the studio did not want to debut the film at the Venice Film Festival, but Phillips pushed back and got his way. Phillips also refused to test screen the film, making the Venice premiere the first time an audience saw it. One source tells the trade: “No one could get through to Todd, and the one thing about genre stuff: If you don’t listen and pay attention to what the fan expectations are, you’re going to fail.
” A WB spokesman claims the studio always support.