Joker got Warner Bros. worried about pajama sales
Now that Joker has earned more than $1 billion worldwide, it's probably safe to assume that Warner Bros. is happy they rolled the dice on it. But according to director Todd Phillips, the movie's release could have been derailed by a different major profit-driver for the studios: pajamas. "We spent a year at Warner Bros., and I saw emails back and forth, literally, where they said, "Does he realize we sell Joker pajamas at Target?," recalled Phillips. "I go, 'Didn't movies come first and pajamas come second?'" — somehow missing the entire insane merchandising machine on which this whole superhero thing is based. Read more at The Hollywood Reporter.
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Scott Meslow is the entertainment editor for TheWeek.com. He has written about film and television at publications including The Atlantic, POLITICO Magazine, and Vulture.
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