David Fincher Accuses ‘Joker’ Movie Of Making A Billion Dollars Off Of Mentally Ill

Although the “Joker” movie is the highest-grossing R-rated movie of all time, “Gone Girl” director David Fincher recently slammed Hollywood for profiting off of the mental illness of its main character.

In a new interview, Fincher shared his feelings about the film and its cast including, Joaquin Phoenix, as the titular character, who portrayed a mashed-up version of Rupert Pupkin from “The King of Comedy” Martin Scorsese and Travis Bickle from “Taxi Driver.”

“Nobody would have thought they had a shot at a giant hit with ‘Joker’ had ‘The Dark Knight’ not been as massive as it was,” Fincher told The Telegraph.

“I don’t think anyone would have looked at that material and thought, ‘Yeah, let’s take Travis Bickle and Rupert Pupkin and conflate them, then trap him in a betrayal of the mentally ill, and trot it out for a billion dollars.’”

Fincher went on to suggest that if the movie was released 20 years ago, it would have been deemed unacceptable by society’s standards.

“I'm sure that Warner Bros thought at a certain price, and with the right cast, and with [Robert] De Niro coming along for the ride, it would be a possible double or triple,” Fincher said.

“But I cannot imagine that movie would have been released had it been 1999.”

Since the “Joker’s” release in October 2019, the film has grossed an estimated $1.07 billion dollars.

Last year, psychiatrist Vasilis K. Pozios criticized the film’s portrayal of the Joker’s mental illness.

“It becomes muddied. The audience walks away associating Fleck’s violent behavior, particularly the gun violence, with his mental illness,” Pozios told USA Today.

“It’s like (Fleck) went on his killing spree because he is ‘crazy,’ that’s the conclusion audiences come to, which is unfortunate. It reinforces perceptions people might have which are way overblown.”