Batman villains The Joker and Harley Quinn will be getting their own standalone movie, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Jared Leto and Margot Robbie will reprise their roles for the film after a sequel to Suicide Squad is completed. Both movies are being fast-tracked due to the actors’ talent holding deals with the studio.
Plot details are unknown, but a THR source calls it a “criminal love story.”
This is Us directors Glenn Ficarra and John Requa are in final negotiations to write and direct. The duo would be reuniting with Robbie after they directed her with Will Smith in Focus — which they also scripted — and with Tina Fey in Whiskey Tango Foxtrot. They also helmed Crazy, Stupid, Love starring Steve Carrel, Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone and wrote and directed I Love You Phillip Morris starring Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor.
The two also wrote a bunch of Angry Beavers episodes and a Wild Thornberrys episode according to their IMDb pages so they’re a-okay in my book.
This marks the second Joker movie announced in the past 24 hours. A Joker origin story is also rumored to be in development from the help of Martin Scorsese and The Hangover director Todd Phillips, but without Leto.
The DC lineup officially consists of Justice League on Nov. 17, Aquaman on Dec. 21, 2018 and Wonder Woman 2 on Dec. 13, 2019. Standalone movies based on Batgirl, Batman, The Flash, Green Lantern Corps, Justice League Dark and Shazam were also confirmed to be in development at the Warner Bros. panel from Comic-Con in July.
Other movies floating around include ones based on Black Adam, Cyborg, Gotham City Sirens (which would also feature the Harley Quinn character by Robbie), Nightwing and sequels to Justice League, Man of Steel and the aforementioned one to Suicide Squad. The Batman standalone movie director Matt Reeves also has ideas for more Batman movies. Also, a Harley Quinn vs. Joker movie was heard about last month although this is probably that project. Unless they really want to suck Leto and Robbie’s contracts dry….
