Joker and The Irishman star Robert De Niro has weighed in with his thoughts on the accusations and controversy surrounding the Todd Phillips directed movie.
With Joker set to arrive in cinemas in the coming days, there is growing concern that the way the film portrays violence could potentially lead to real-world incidents. Now, speaking with Variety at the New York Film Festival premiere, De Niro has offered his limited thoughts regarding the controversy. He said:
“I like Todd Phillips and Joaquin Phoenix. They were terrific to work with and, you know, I’m a small part of it and they kind of the association of me with Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy is part of it, though it’s different, you’ll see when one sees the movie yet why, so that’s it,” De Niro said. “We’ll see what happens. I know there’s controversy. I think some of the things that were being said about Warner Bros. giving money, not endorsing or whatever it was about the NRA I think is right, whatever people were saying connected with the Aurora theatre or whatever organization it was, I don’t remember specifically.”
SEE ALSO: Joker director says the film isn’t trying to glorify violence
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Joker centres around the iconic arch nemesis and is an original, standalone story not seen before on the big screen. The exploration of Arthur Fleck (Joaquin Phoenix), a man disregarded by society, is not only a gritty character study but also a broader cautionary tale.
Joker is set for release on October 4th 2019 and stars Joaquin Phoenix (The Sisters Brothers), Robert De Niro (Goodfellas), Zazie Beetz (Deadpool 2), Bill Camp (Red Sparrow), Frances Conroy (American Horror Story), Brett Cullen (Narcos), Glenn Fleshler (Billions), Douglas Hodge (Penny Dreadful), Marc Maron (GLOW), Josh Pais (Motherless Brooklyn), Shea Whigham (Kong: Skull Island), Douglas Hodge (Robin Hood) and Dante Pereira-Olson (You Were Never Really Here).