Joaquin Phoenix could be landing his next award-winning role. Sources say that Universal is planning to re-adapt the classic story of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde with the Oscar winner in the lead.
According to We Got This Covered, the studio wants a fresh take on the novel written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Phoenix is being eyed to take on the dual roles following his success in the movie Joker but it's unclear if he has actually been approached to board the project.
The last actor to play the Jekyll/Hyde character was Russel Crowe in the 2017 film The Mummy with Tom Cruise. Apparently, this was supposed to be part of the studio's planned shared Dark Universe but then the franchise was killed.
We Got This Covered is speculating that the upcoming Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde will be an original take based on the same material. The re-adaptation is pegged as a revival of the darkness and intrigue of the original story.
There have been numerous adaptations of Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Hyde on stage, television and the film. However, none have been on a blockbuster scale on the big screen in the last several decades, even if viewers count Mary Reilly with Julia Roberts and John Malkovich.
Meanwhile, the success of Joker has given rise to rumors of a follow up movie with Phoenix still playing the titular character. According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Todd Phillips is apparently in talks to do the sequel as well.
Details to Joker 2 are still not set in stone but fans are also speculating that it might open doors more DC villain properties on the big screen. The studio, however, said that the Joker sequel is currently in the stages of "being explored" and could take years to develop. Whatever talks there are between Phillips are still considered in the preliminary stages so there is no storyline and script actively being written as of press time.
As for Phoenix, the actor will be seen next in the drama C'mon C'mon. The film, written and directed by Mike Mills, also stars Gaby Hoffman, Woody Norman and Artrial Clark. The story is about an artist who takes his nephew across the country.
Phoenix finished filming C'mon C'mon before he took on the award circuit, where he swept the Best Actor award for Joker. C'mon C'mon is now in post-production and is expected to be in theaters for holiday 2020.
