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Filmmaker Todd Phillips rose to fame with his work on The Hangover trilogy. Despite extensively working in the comedy genre, Phillips shocked everyone with his take on the DC Comics Clown Prince of Crime in 2019’s Joker. The film starring Joaquin Phoenix in the titular role was a critical and commercial success.
Todd Phillips directed comedies before 2019’s Joker (Credit: Warner Bros).In an interview, Phillips discussed the genesis of the Academy Award-winning DC movie. At the same time, Phillips criticized the current state of the comedy genre primarily because of the rise of woke culture. As a result, Phillips was driven to make Joker because of his disdain for the woke culture, and here is what he had to say about it.
Todd Phillips stopped making comedy movies because of woke culture
Filmmaker Todd Phillips made his directorial debut with the 2000 comedy Road Trip. He later worked on The Hangover trilogy, which was a critical and commercial success. However, following 2016’s black comedy War Dogs, Phillips hasn’t directed a comedy movie, instead making two Joker movies.
Todd Phillips feels woke culture killed comedies (Credit: Esquire UK | YouTube).In an interview with Vanity Fair, Phillips opened up about his decision to step away from comedies. The filmmaker cited the scrutiny of the genre because of woke culture as the primary reason for his changed approach. He said:
It’s hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can’t do it, right? So you just go, ‘I’m out.’
Phillips added that most of his comedy movies were irreverent, which might explain why most of them were a commercial success.
‘How do I do something irreverent, but f*** comedy? Oh I know, let’s take the comic book movie universe and turn it on its head with this.’
Phillips made the above statement, explaining how his desire to continue making irreverent birthed the idea of 2019’s Joker.
From Phillips’ words, it is evident that the current sociocultural landscape and the rise of woke culture have led to the death of the comedy genre. As a result, the filmmaker pivoted to a different style of storytelling with Joker, which was a massive commercial success.
Todd Phillips unlikely to make The Hangover IV despite interest from the cast
Despite the continued popularity of The Hangover franchise, there hasn’t been a new installment in over a decade. In a November 2023 interview, lead star Bradley Cooper admitted he was interested in returning for a fourth installment provided the main cast and Phillips were to return.
Todd Phillips is unlikely to return to The Hangover franchise (Credit: Warner Bros).At the same time, Cooper’s co-star Ed Helms also admitted to People that he was open to reprising his role for another outing. However, in the aforementioned interview, Cooper added that he was skeptical about Phillips making a fourth movie and was unlikely to revisit the franchise. He said (via Variety):
I don’t think Todd’s ever going to do that.
Following Joker‘s success, Phillips established himself as a serious filmmaker winning several accolades and a Best Director Oscar nomination.
As a result, it is understandable that the director might not want to return to the mindless comedy fun of The Hangover franchise. However, the recent box office failure of Joker 2 might have Phillips reassessing his options. Therefore, Phillips could consider returning to his comedic roots and a fourth entry in The Hangover franchise will certainly add a hit to his filmography.
The Hangover trilogy and Joker are streaming on Max.
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