Joaquin Phoenix’s HUGE Joker 2 Pay Raise Revealed
Joaquin Phoenix’s massive salary for Joker 2 has been revealed, with the actor set to take home far more than he did for the first film.
After the resounding success of the first film, Joaquin Phoenix joker 2 the salary should increase considerably. Written and directed by Todd Phillips, the first Joker The 2019 film introduced audiences to Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck, an aspiring comedian with mental health issues living in Gotham City. Joker was a hit with audiences and critics alike and became the first R-rated film to gross over $1 billion, in addition to winning Phoenix an Academy Award for Best Actor.
Shortly after the success of the first film, it was announced that a sequel was in development with Phillips and Phoenix returning. Much is still unknown about the upcoming sequel, but Phillips previously shared the first page of the script on social media, revealing that the film’s working title was Joker: Madness for two. The French title roughly translates to “madness shared by two”, hinting that another character will figure prominently in the film. Shortly after the title reveal, additional reports emerged revealing that not only Lady Gaga is in talks to join joker 2 like Harley Quinn but that the movie could be a musical.
Due to the mega success of the first film, a new report from Variety claims Phoenix could be paid up to $20 million by Warner Bros. to resume his role joker 2. It would be a massive increase over the first movie. After earning $4.5 million for the original film, the actor reportedly negotiated a much higher payout for the sequel, putting his earnings on par with Chris Hemsworth for Extraction 2 and Vin Diesel for x fast.
Although the number represents a significant step up from what Phoenix paid for the first Joker, Salaries of $20 million have been pretty standard for major movie stars for quite some time. Brad Pitt’s salary for High-speed train, for example, was also $20 million, but new streaming service models now allow big stars to charge even more per frame. Given the huge box office success of the first Jokerestimated to have been made between $55 and $70 million, it is also likely that joker 2 will see a much larger overall budget, in addition to Phoenix’s salary increase.
Whereas joker 2 has yet to begin production, Phoenix’s performance in the first film is widely considered one of the actor’s best. The plot of joker 2 is still a giant question mark, but the film is sure to showcase Phoenix’s acting talent more than ever, especially as he continues his Oscar-winning performance in the first film. Although more details about joker 2 will likely be revealed in the coming months, Phoenix’s new paycheck certainly suggests that Warner Bros. banking on the fact that the film will be as popular as the original.
Source: Variety
