Fan projects from all popular and diverse media franchises are either successful or unsuccessful. In a sea of fan projects, only a few stand out as worth watching – like The Punisher: Dirty laundry, and Mortal Kombat: Rebirth. Add to this list is The people’s prankster, a parody of Todd Philips Joker.
The parody film is directed by Vera Drew and debuted at the Toronto Film Festival this month. However, it has been updated that the unlicensed DC Comics movie will be pulled from the festival following a rights issue.
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What happened to the People’s Joker?
Much like the plethora of adaptations from the Batman universe, or the DC universe, The People’s Prankster is one of the lucky few whose crowdfunding has made his design a reality. The parody of Vera Drew by Todd Philips Joker has been described as “an illegal queer coming-of-age comic book movie”.
The film tells the story of an aspiring clown struggling with her gender identity who battles a fascist caped crusader. The film will star Vera Drew as the Joker, with others like Tim Heidecker, Lynn Downey, David Liebe Hart and more joining her in this parody of Joker.
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On September 13, the film premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, but was later pulled from the festival. Drew further revealed the details of the film’s abrupt news in a statement she posted on Twitter-
“The day before our premiere…a media conglomerate who will remain anonymous sent me an angry letter, pressuring me not to air. Any other film festival would have attracted us immediately, but after being fully transparent with TIFF, we agreed to premiere as planned while reducing our subsequent screenings to mitigate potential backfire.
If one visits the TIFF website leading to a page about the film, it will simply state that the filmmaker pulled the film due to rights issues. This is sad news considering that we may never get to see one of the most exciting queer Batman-adjacent movies in recent times.
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It’s not all over for the People’s Joker
It was quite disappointing to hear that such a refreshing version of the Batverse was pulled from the festival, but a fan-made movie can only go so far with all the legal issues surrounding it.
However, fans of Vera Drew’s crowdfunded project, which raised nearly $20,000 two years ago, needn’t worry.
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During the same statement posted on Twitter following the removal of The People’s Prankster from TIFF, Drew further assured his fans that the film “will be screened again very soon” –
“The People’s Joker will be screened again very soon at several other festivals around the world. We are humbly looking for a distribution partner who believes in what we do, will protect us, and eventually help us make this film accessible to trans people and their families everywhere.
Finding a cast partner for a fan project is no easy task, so I think we won’t see Drew’s movie too soon, but not too late either. As for Drew, we wish him well in getting the film back on track despite the recent legal setback.
The People’s Prankster was officially released with its September 13 premiere at the Toronto Film Festival.
Source: Leaping into the Comics
