Credit: Haunted Gay Ride ProductionsThe People’s Joker, the controversial and critically acclaimed LGBTQIA+ retelling of the famed DC Comics villain‘s origin story by comedian and filmmaker Vera Drew, is finally going to be released in theaters after months of mysterious legal difficulties.
These days, the Joker, the notorious DC character co-created by Bill Finger, Bob Kane, and Jerry Robinson, has become as much of a screen presence as Batman, his arch-nemesis. The character has been portrayed by actors as varied as Cesar Romero (in the campy 1960s Batman TV series), Jack Nicholson in the blockbuster 1989 Tim Burton film, Mark Hamill as the voice of the character in multiple animated series and features, the late Heath Ledger in an Academy Award-winning performance, Jared Leto in a less-acclaimed one, and Joaquin Phoenix in an unexpectedly billion-dollar-grossing solo film.
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However, the most unique portrayal of the Joker in media may be in The People’s Joker, a satirical gender-queer comedy directed, co-written, edited, and starring Vera Drew that, to date, has only ever been screened twice at film festivals. It initially premiered at the 2022 Toronto International Film Festival but was swiftly withdrawn over unclear “rights issues,” which many have speculated may have to do with DC Studios and its parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, disapproving of the character being portrayed as a trans woman.
Now, The People’s Joker has finally been cleared for release in North America in a deal brokered by UTA, Rise Management, and Altered Innocence. The Vera Drew film will begin screening on April 5, according to a press release.
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Vera Drew gave a statement saying:
“I am absolutely thrilled and humbled that Altered Innocence is helping me bring The People’s Joker to theaters this spring. This movie started as a DIY community project for queer artists and I made it with my friends to process what it was like coming out as a trans woman working in the film and TV industry. It has been a long road freeing The People’s Joker and finding a release plan that rings true to the queer, anarchist spirit we had while making it. What better home than among Altered Innocence’s catalog of gorgeously gay and deliciously edgy films.”
The People’s Joker is a crowd-sourced film featuring the work of over 200 collaborators and was shot entirely on green screen, initially inspired by Vera Drew making a re-edit of the the Joaquin Phoenix film Joker (2019). In addition to Drew as one version of the Joker character in a dystopian Gotham City run by Batman (Phil Braun), the film features Scott Aukerman, Tim Heidecker, Maria Bamford, David Liebe Hart, Robert Wuhl, and Bob Odenkirk.
Inside the Magic reached out to Altered Innocence regarding the release of the film and will update with new information as it arrives.
Will you see The People’s Joker when it finally releases? Tell us in the comments below!