Hollywood veteran Robert De Niro is in negotiations to star in The Joker origin movie with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead.
According to The Hollywood Reporter , if the deal goes through, the 74-year-old actor would play a talk show host who is somehow instrumental in The Joker’s back story.
This would be De Niro’s first comic book movie.
Phoenix stars as one of the most notorious DC supervillains, who is arch-nemesis of The Batman.
Todd Phillips is directing the film, which the studio describes as being an “exploration of a man disregarded by society (that) is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale”.
Phillips co-wrote the script with Scott Silver.
The shooting is set to begin in September in New York.
Warner Bros has announced October 4, 2019 as the release date of the currently untitled film.
