Robert De Niro, Joaquin Phoenix & Bradley Cooper Attend Premiere Of ‘Joker’ At Toronto Film Festival

The new Joker film starring Joaquin Phoenix boasts an all-star cast and crew that know how to make an entrance.

Phoenix attended the movie’s premiere at the sixth day of the Toronto International Film Festival on Monday alongside Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper, Zazie Beetz and Todd Phillips (The Hangover trilogy, War Dogs), the film’s director and co-writer. The Toronto Film Festival will end on Sunday.

Joker, which is set for an October 4 wide release, is a psychological thriller that serves as a standalone origin story for the Batman villain. Phoenix portrays the titular character, a clown and social outcast named Arthur Fleck who dreams of becoming a stand-up comedian like his idol, talk show host Murray Franklin (De Niro). Beetz, who is famous for her roles in Atlanta and Deadpool 2, plays the protagonist’s neighbor and love interest, Sophie. Cooper does not star in Joker but serves as one of the film’s producers.

The film, which is already generating awards buzz, is set during the 1980s in the fictional Gotham City. The trailer was released last month:

ICYMI: Watch the final trailer for Joker. 🤡 pic.twitter.com/OCurbxhmDi

— IGN (@IGN) September 2, 2019

#Joker is an extremely ultra violent tale but it’s also a concerning commentary on mental illness, class, feeling ostracized from society. It’s really chilling to watch. #TIFF19 pic.twitter.com/pX6z0DdlI9

— Jason Guerrasio (@JasonGuerrasio) September 10, 2019

JOKER: Not your daddy’s #Joker movie. Riveting & engrossing, unnerving & disturbing, intense & very violent. A cross between Taxi Driver, King of Comedy & Network. #JoaquinPhoenix is haunting, very different from Jack & Heath. Need to stew on this one. #TIFF19 pic.twitter.com/L1ySwUgzDO

— Scott Mantz (@MovieMantz) September 10, 2019

An early reference for #ToddPhillips and co-screenwriter Scott Silver was 1928’s silent film “The Man Who Laughs”. They felt they had “a lot of freedom because #Joker never really had an origins story in the comics. We thought it was really liberating.” pic.twitter.com/rdgEndPD1A

— Filmthusiast (@itsfilmthusiast) September 10, 2019

Phoenix is the third actor over the last 11 years to play the character of the Joker, after the late Heath Ledger and Jared Leto, who portrayed the villain in 2016’s Suicide Squad.

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