Vera Drew's debut feature The Peoples Joker has been removed from the Toronto International Film Festival following its world premiere due to "rights issues." The film, inspired by the iconic Batman villain, stars Drew as a transgender stand-up comedian working in Gotham City in the DC universe.
The Peoples Joker premiered Wednesday night as a part of TIFF's Midnight Madness program. However, shortly after the premiere, the Joker parody film was pulled from the TIFF 2022 line-up and all future screenings have been cancelled.
“The filmmaker has withdrawn this film due to rights issues. We apologize for any inconvenience," reads a statement on the TIFF website reads. "Current ticket holders will receive an email from TIFF customer relations with information on their purchase.” Drew hinted at potential issues on Tuesday before the premiere, writing on Twitter, “I have no clue how today goes and my team wants me to say nothing of course so I’ll stay vague…but whatever happens in the next few hours, I want you to know…if you’ve been waiting and aching to watch our movie, ur going to get to soon. Stay tuned and stay with me. Need ur help.”
In the interview with Collider, Drew discussed her many influences as well as her time in film school and working with comedians Tim Heidecker and Eric Andre (Heidecker is also featured in the film). "I think this film can be 100% distributed. It is completely protected under fair use and copyright law. Like a parody law," Drew said when asked about the legality of distributing a movie like The Peoples Joker. "The only thing that makes it weird in both of those categories is nobody's ever taken characters and IP and really personalized it in this way. So I think that's the thing that really kind of makes it seem a lot more dangerous than I actually think it is."
Drew also commented on her primary inspiration: Todd Phillips, director of Joker, which stars actor Joaquin Phoenix as the titular Batman villain. "I loved it. It really did inspire me and spoke to me in a way that was like, 'It's really cool that there's a movie, a comic book movie, let alone one that makes a billion dollars, about mental illness and poverty, and where that all intersects.'" Drew told Collider. "I think part of the thing with this movie is, I want to see big-budget IPs get the kind of treatment that you're talking about where, because it is such a wonderful genre that you can play in, and we really, along the way, realized you can do anything in this world. So why can't you unpack real human emotion and themes and stuff?" While Phillips' Joker was subject to its own controversy, the film went on to become the highest-grossing R-rated film of all time, earning Academy Awards, including Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Phoenix. A sequel titled Joker: Folie à Deux is currently in production, and eyeing a 2024 release.
Warner Bros. has not made any official statements regarding the news, but Drew has promised that “everyone is going to get the chance to see this film." In a statement shared with Variety following the Wednesday night premiere, Drew said, “I don’t respond well to bullying or pressure from faceless institutions, it only emboldens me and what I was saying with this film. We’re looking for buyers and distribution partners who will protect us and make this film accessible to trans people and their families everywhere.” She has also encouraged fans and supporters to vote for the film in TIFF's Peoples Choice Awards.
Source: Collider