‘Joker’ Gets Eight-Minute Standing Ovation at World Premiere

Here’s something that will make the Joker himself smile even bigger. After the world premiere of the new DC origins story starring Joaquin Phoenix at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday, Joker had the audience on its feet for an eight-minute-long standing ovation.

The Todd Phillips-directed movie was also met with shouts of “Bravo!” as the credits rolled and Joaquin Phoenix’s name was flashed on the screen, Deadline reported.

The reaction at Venice only fuels early Oscar buzz, especially for Phoenix, who was present at the Saturday night screening.

Earlier in the day at the fest, Phoenix said he stayed away from from past actors’ incarnations of the Batman arch-villain, including Heath Ledger’s portrayal in The Dark Knight, which won the late Australian actor a posthumous Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in 2009.

Joaquin Phoenix in ‘Joker,’ which hits theaters on Oct. 4. (Photo Credit: Warner Bros)

“I didn’t refer to any past iteration of the character,” Phoenix said. “It just felt like something that was our creation in some ways.”

Joker, which hits theaters on October 4, introduces Phoenix as Arthur Fleck, a clown-for-hire by day, and aspiring stand-up comic at night. But while he tries to put on a happy face, he finds himself the victim of Gotham’s cruel society. One day, Fleck makes one bad decision that causes a chain reaction.

Early reviews have stokes awards buzz for Phoenix. (Photo Credit: Warner Bros)

Venice film fest artistic director Alberto Barbera had praise for the film, saying that Joker is headed “straight to the Oscars.”

Film critic Owen Glieberman also stoked awards buzz for the movie. In his Variety review, he wrote: “Joaquin Phoenix is astonishing as a mentally ill geek who becomes the killer-clown Joker in Todd Phillips’ neo-Taxi Driver knockout: the rare comic-book movie that expresses what’s happening in the real world.”

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