Happy 50th Birthday, Todd Phillips! Born today in 1970 as Todd Bunzl, this American actor, screenwriter, producer and director had made a surprising start helming documentaries before transitioning into one of the top comedic directors in Hollywood.
Born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York to a family of Jewish background, Phillips was later raised in Huntington, New York, on Long Island.
Years later, he attended NYU Tisch Film School, but dropped out in order to focus on completing his first film. Around that time, he worked at Kim's Video and Music.
After gaining attention with 'Hated: GG Allin and the Murder Junkies' (1993), a controversial look at the crazed life of the eponymous punk rocker, Phillips directed 'Frat House' (1998).
The latter was an acclaimed documentary that looked at frat house hazing, with the director often including himself and co-director Andrew Gurland in some of the rituals.
Phillips later appeared as one of the drivers in the first season of HBO's American hidden camera docuseries Taxicab Confessions (1995–2006).
In a New York Times profile, Phillips said he had gotten in trouble for shoplifting as a young man.
Phillips was raised on a steady diet of such goofy 1980s comedy staples, such as 'Animal House' (1978), 'Meatballs' (1979), 'Stripes' (1981), 'Revenge of the Nerds' (1984) and 'Just One of the Guys' (1985).
Because of this, the fearless Phillips didn't even see a Bergman or Welles film until he hit his early twenties -- a fact that's relentlessly obvious when watching his debut fiction feature.
This was the raunchy, retro-reeking 2000 American road sex comedy/adventure film 'Road Trip' that put Phillips on the map as a narrative filmmaker.
Six years later, Phillips co-conceived the story for American comedian, screenwriter, director, actor, and producer Larry Charles' 2006 British-American comedy/mockumentary film 'Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'. This was along with three others, including Sacha Baron Cohen.
Three years later, Phillips, co-produced and directed the first film of which he is best known. This was the 2009 American comedy film 'The Hangover'.
Upon release, it was a critical and commercial success. On a budget of $35 million, 'The Hangover' grossed $469.3 million at box offices worldwide.
It is the tenth-highest-grossing worldwide film of 2009, as well as the second-highest-grossing R-rated comedy ever in the United States, surpassing a record previously held by 'Beverly Hills Cop' (1984) for almost twenty-five years.
A hugely successful comedy that raked in over seven times its budget and won a Golden Globe award, it confirmed that Phillips was one of the finest comedic directors in the business.
The following year, 'The Hangover' won the Golden Globe Award for Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy. This occurred at the 67th Golden Globe Awards in mid-January 2010. The film later received other multiple accolades.
A sequel, 'The Hangover Part II' (2011), and a third and final installment, 'The Hangover Part III' (2013), were also box-office hits. Although both directed by Phillips, neither films were well-received.
According to Phillips' personal beliefs, when asked in a 2014 interview by the BBC if he believes in God, he replied: "Personally I don't. But I believe there's a higher power, a collective energy in people that you might say is God".
Four years later, Phillips co-produced (along with Bradley Cooper) the 2018 American romance/musical film 'A Star is Born'. Cooper had co-written, directed, and starred in the film as well.
One year later, Phillips co-wrote, co-produced (along with Bradley Cooper) and directed the second and final film of which he is best known. This was the 2019 American psychological thriller crime/drama film 'Joker'.
On a budget of $55–70 million, 'Joker' grossed $1.074 billion at the box office. Upon release, the film later received numerous accolades.
Phillips had conceived 'Joker' in 2016 and wrote the script with American screenwriter and film director Joel Silver throughout 2017.
The two were inspired by 1970s-character studies and the films of Martin Scorsese (particularly 'Taxi Driver' [1976] and 'The King of Comedy' [1983]), who was initially attached to the project as a producer.
'Joker' loosely adapts plot elements from 'Batman: The Killing Joke' (1988) and 'The Dark Knight Returns' (1986), but Phillips and Silver otherwise did not look to specific comics for inspiration.
Joaquin Phoenix became attached in February 2018 and was cast that July, while the majority of the cast signed on by August. Principal photography took place in New York City, Jersey City, and Newark, from September to December 2018.
'Joker' is the first live-action theatrical Batman film to receive an R-rating from the Motion Picture Association (MPA).
'Joker' premiered at the 76th Venice International Film Festival on August 31, 2019, where it won the Golden Lion, and was released in the United States on October 4, 2019. However, the film polarized critics.
Although Joaquin Phoenix's performance, the musical score, and the cinematography were praised, the dark tone, portrayal of mental illness, and handling of violence divided opinion and generated concerns of inspiring real-world violence.
The movie theater where the 2012 Aurora, Colorado mass shooting occurred during a screening of 'The Dark Knight Rises' (2012) refused to show it.
Despite this, 'Joker' became a major box office success and set records for an October release.
It grossed over $1 billion, the first and only R-rated film to do so, becoming the sixth-highest-grossing film of 2019, and the 31st-highest-grossing film of all time during its theatrical run.
One year later, 'Joker' earned a leading eleven Oscar nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, winning Best Actor for Phoenix (who became the second actor to win an Oscar for portraying the Joker following Heath Ledger in 2009).
The film also won for Best Original Score for Icelandic musician and composer Hildur Guðnadóttir. This occurred at the 92nd Academy Awards in early February 2020.
Phoenix and Guðnadóttir also went on to win awards at the Golden Globe and BAFTA Award ceremonies that same year.
According to Pop Culture, Phillips, who rose to fame with films like 'Road Trip', 'Old School' and 'The Hangover', implied that he was driven away from comedies and toward dramas like 'Joker' because of a hesitancy to “be funny nowadays in this woke culture.”
Phillips said last year, in the aftermath of the release of 'Joker', that he had stopped making comedy films because of the backlash of "Woke culture."
According to Phillips, 'Joker' was created from his idea to create a different, more grounded comic book film. He was attracted to the Joker because he did not think there was a definitive portrayal of the character, which he knew would provide considerable creative freedom.
Speaking to Vanity Fair, Phillips explained: "Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture. There were articles written about why comedies don’t work anymore—I’ll tell you why, because all the f***ing funny guys are like, ‘F*** this sh*t, because I don’t want to offend you.’ It's hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter."
Inside sources have told Deadline that there is currently no deal for a Joker sequel, nor are there any ongoing negotiations with Phillips and Silver to pen a second movie.
In addition, sources tell Deadline that the reported October 7 meeting that Phillips had with Warner Bros.
Among his credits, Phillips is also known for directing 'Old School' (2003), 'Starsky & Hutch' (2004), 'Due Date' (2010), and 'War Dogs' (2016).
Phillips has been active from 1993–present.
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