The low-budget DC parody movie The People’s Joker has really landed distribution and will probably be getting a theatrical launch. This comes after the movie was pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival lineup simply over a 12 months in the past over rights points.
The film is certainly within the grey space when it on the subject of copyright points. The filmmakers say that their film suits below truthful use and the title card for the trailer even says that “all materials used fall under fair use, protected under title 17, U.S. Code 107-118.”
The press launch confirming the discharge date for the movie reads: “The People’s Joker is in no way created by, endorsed by, or affiliated with DC Comics or any of its related companies.” I nonetheless don’t know the way they’re getting away with it.
Altered Innocence is the distribution firm that has acquired North American distribution rights for the movie, which is described as a “queer coming-of-age superhero world parody.”
The film was directed by Vera Drew, who additionally edited, co-wrote, and starred. Drew shared in a assertion: “I am absolutely thrilled and humbled that Altered Innocence is helping me bring The People’s Joker to theaters this spring. This movie started as a DIY community project for queer artists and I made it with my friends to process what it was like coming out as a trans woman working in the film and TV industry. It has been a long road freeing The People’s Joker and finding a release plan that rings true to the queer, anarchist spirit we had while making it. What better home than among Altered Innocence’s catalog of gorgeously gay and deliciously edgy films.”
The People’s Joker is “a queer coming of age Joker Origin story” and the official description reads: “In the absurdist autobiographically-inspired darkish comedy, a painfully unfunny aspiring clown (Vera Drew as Joker the Harlequin) grapples together with her gender id whereas unsuccessfully making an attempt to hitch the ranks of Gotham City’s sole comedy program in a world the place comedy has been outlawed. Uniting with a ragtag staff of rejects and misfits, Joker the Harlequin varieties an unlawful anti-comedy troupe that places her on a collision course with the devious caped crusader controlling the town.”
The film will feature variations on DC characters including The Penguin, Scarecrow, Riddler, Bane, and Harley Quinn, plus DC locations like Smallville and Arkham Asylum also appear.
Altered Innocence founder Frank Jaffe said in a statement: “Vera Drew has taken her personal life experiences and traumas to craft a completely new style of cinema that blurs the traces between documentary, coming-of-age movie, and parody. We could not be extra thrilled to champion this daring, clever, and hilarious piece of queer cinema that audiences across the globe have fallen in love with.”
The film was shot entirely on green screen, the work of over 200 independent, predominantly queer creators -artists, musicians, and animators- elevates the instantaneously illustrious feature beyond genre pastiche to an overflowing richness of mixed-media visuals across 2D, 3D, stop-motion, and more forms of animation.
The People’s Joker cast includes cameos from Tim Heidecker, Bob Odenkirk, Maria Bamford (Netflix’s Big Mouth), and Scott Aukerman, with Lynn Downey (Daisy Jones & The Six), Nathan Faustyn, and Kane Distler.
David Liebe Hart (Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie), Griffin Kramer (Happy Times), Christian Calloway (Twin Peaks: The Return), Ember Knight, Dan Curry (head writer for The Eric Andre Show), Cricket Arrison, Eliot Glazer, Sandy Honig, Alec Robbins, Mia Moore Marchant, Phil Braun, Trevor Drinkwater, Daniella Baker, Bambi Bell, Denali Winter, Ruin Carroll, and Arden Hughes.
The movie will open in theaters on April 5th at the IFC Center in New York City. Additional markets and premiere dates are set to be announced later.
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