Jared Leto tried to ‘throttle’ Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker before it was made, ‘complained bitterly’ to his team

The drama continues. Jared Leto reportedly tried to get Joaquin Phoenix’s Joker movie cancelled before it was made. According to a new story by The Hollywood Reporter, Leto felt that by greenlighting a rival Joker film, Warner Bros was disrespecting him. Leto played the iconic Batman villain in 2016’s Suicide Squad, to mixed audience reception.

According to the report, Leto complained to his agents to get the film, directed by Todd Phillips, called off. He asked his music manager to call Warner Bros’ parent company. “The idea was to get Warners to kill the Phillips film,” the report said, mentioning that the call was eventually never made by his manager, with whom Leto has since parted ways.

The report says that a source in Leto’s camp denies he made the demand. A previous report by THR had said that Leto was left ‘alienated and upset’ by Warner Bros decision to focus on Joaquin Phoenix’s film, which has proven to be a mammoth success for the studio, with over $600 million in the bank.

The new THR report says that the studio ‘wasn’t thrilled’ with Leto’s antics on Suicide Squad, which contributed to his part being cut down to roughly 10 minutes in the final film. “In his defence, it was never really his movie but his attempt to `invent’ a place for himself in it backfired,” a source was quoted as saying.

“Sources say Leto told his agents that they should stop the rival project, arguing that he wasn’t being treated properly as an Oscar winner,” the story adds. Leto went through four different teams of agents during this time, and has since switched agencies altogether.

To add the final nail to Leto’s coffin as the Joker, the report concludes, “At this point, sources say Leto’s days as the Joker likely are over. He will not reprise the role for Warners’ upcoming DC movies Birds of Prey (a spinoff centered on Robbie’s Harley Quinn) or in James Gunn’s The Suicide Squad, due out in 2021.”

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