The homage to Martin Scorsese the director wanted nothing to do with: “I didn’t have the time”
They say imitation is the highest form of flattery, but while legendary director Martin Scorsese certainly has plenty of imitators, it doesn’t mean that he’s necessarily going to put his name to something.
That proved to be the case when director Todd Phillips was planning Joker, the smash-hit psycho movie from 2019 that featured an absolutely unhinged performance from Joaquin Phoenix and had the unfortunate effect of convincing countless young men in America that they were hard done by. The film is undoubtedly a homage to some of Scorsese’s masterpieces, with a central character reminiscent of Taxi Driver’s Travis Bickle and the casting of Robert De Niro as the talk show host who comes to a very violent and public end.
Indeed, Scorsese was initially due to be involved as a producer on Phillips’ movie until he decided to step away, in addition to being asked to direct, which he turned down at the time, saying, “I decided that I didn’t have the time for it. Todd told me, ‘Marty, this is yours’, and [I said], ‘I don’t know if I want to’. For personal reasons, I didn’t want to get involved, but I know the script very well.”
Phillips, who made his name directing fairly popular comedy movies in the mid-2000s like Old School and School for Scoundrels, found massive success when he helmed The Hangover movies, pocketing him around $50million thanks to a sensible decision to take a slice of the comedy’s profits rather than a salary.
He then co-wrote the screenplay for Joker with 8 Mile director Scott Silver and viewed it as an incredibly dark, stand-alone origin movie for the DC Comics character, with the likes of Scorsese’s The King of Comedy as inspiration. That 1982 movie was a black comedy focusing on the dangers of fame-obsession and the cult of celebrity, and also starred De Niro. It was a massive flop at the box office on release, but has since revived a cult classic.
Joker, meanwhile, was an instant hit. Despite some mixed reviews from critics, it brought in over $1billion at the box office and earned 11 Oscar nominations, a record for a comic book movie, winning a ‘Best Actor’ gong for Phoenix.
It wasn’t without controversy, however. The incel community in the United States seized upon the mental illness of the main character and the perceived injustices he suffered, and some accused the film of essentially being propaganda on behalf of such groups. Scorsese, for his part, called the film “remarkable”, although he hasn’t commented on the 2024 sequel Joker: Folie à deux, which bombed hard on release. To be fair to Phillips, he did try something new with the second instalment, bringing in a musical element, but it didn’t land in any way whatsoever.
While he is yet to announce another project since the panning, Scorsese is very busy, with involvement in no less than 14 different projects on the go. Those include an Apple TV+ series based on his movie Cape Fear, another TV series based around Gangs of New York, his Oscar-winning 2002 film, and he’ll be executive producer on a series telling the life story of the former heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
