In “The People’s Joker,” transgender filmmaker Vera Drew tells a fictionalized version of her own life story set in the DC universe. The movie is here not only a low-budget queer coming-of-age film, but also a parody of the Batman universe with many allusions to previous Joker appearances and all sorts of other DC references – which apparently didn’t get much approval from Warner and DC’s Batman and Joker rights holders.
As Vera Drew has made very clear in the past: Warner probably suggested in a letter that she not carry out her unauthorized worktherefore, after the world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF) in September 2022, further screenings were canceled and the trailer also disappeared from the internet.
That the The situation is now somewhat relaxed has already presented isolated new screenings of “The People’s Joker,” which have taken place at various festivals since summer 2023. This is now made even clearer by the next big step, which will bring the comedy, shot entirely on green screen, to an even wider audience: Distributor Altered Innocence will bring “The People’s Joker” to U.S. theaters on April 5, 2024. Vera Drew solemnly announced this on the short message service X (formerly Twitter):
Why can “The People’s Joker” be shown again?
The exact background behind further screenings and now a theatrical release of “The People’s Joker” is somewhat unclear. It does not appear that Vera Drew re-edited or re-shot her film after the world premiere (unlike before the premiere, for which she deleted previously used scenes from “Joker” starring Joaquin Phoenix). In any case, according to the new ideas, there have been no reports of this.
Much more It is reasonable to assume that the film has passed a judicial review, which may have found that the film does not infringe Warner’s copyright and exploitation rights to Joker, but that the fair use doctrine applicable in the US applies here. This states that copyrighted material may be used to a certain extent for criticism, opinion formation, reporting, education or science. This also includes parodies under certain conditions.
Will “The People’s Joker” also come to Germany?
There is still no official statement from Warner or DC regarding the project. But with a regular American theatrical release, the rights issues surrounding “The People’s Joker” seem to have been resolved for the time being. Besides, it is Once this hurdle is overcome, the film is more likely to find its way to the rest of the world and perhaps Germany as well. However, there is no information about this yet.
But what is “The People’s Joker” actually about? Here we are first introduced to Batman’s iconic nemesis as a troubled boy who is uncomfortable in his body and later tries to launch a comedy career in a Gotham City where Batman has criminalized virtually all public comedy.