Joker’s Screenplay Underwent Constant Rewrites During Production

The upcoming Joker movie hasn’t been easy to pin down because it’s set outside of the DCEU and it doesn’t seem to follow any established comics continuity. Regardless, the involvement of The Hangover director Todd Phillips and star Joaquin Phoenix has been a reliable source of intrigue. The film’s cast also includes Robert DeNiro, Shea Whigham, and Deadpool 2’s Zazie Beets. In a recent sit-down with MTV News to promote her new film Wounds, Beets provided a glimpse of Joker‘s on-set environment.

At first, Beets was reluctant to divulge any new info about the film other than wryly promising that it will be “gritty and dark.” However, she did mention that the film’s screenplay underwent constant revision even as the cameras were rolling.

“[The] script was great,” said Beets. “We rewrote the whole thing while we were shooting it. Literally, we would go into Todd’s trailer and then write the scene for the night and then do it.”

RELATED: Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker Has Wrapped Production

Beets’ Wounds co-star, Armie Hammer, pointed out that the film’s co-writer, Scott Silver, probably wouldn’t take kindly to this development. But thankfully, she promised that Silver was on hand to provide his two cents as well. Beets also explained that there was good reason behind the rewrites and subsequent reshooting of scenes.

“We had to do everything then because Joaquin had lost so much weight that we couldn’t do reshoots later on, so we were figuring it out,” she said. “But Todd’s quick at getting stuff done, so we always had extra time. Which was great.”

Beets plays a character named Sophie Dumond, a single mother and love interest to Phoenix’s Arthur Fleck / Joker. The film wrapped production last month and is targeting an October 4, 2019 release date. You can hear Beets’ remarks for yourself via Twitter below, then let us know what you think in the comment section!