‘Joker’ Teaser: Joaquin Phoenix Puts On A Happy Face For First Look

The seriously creepy teaser for Warner Bros’ Joker starring Joaquin Phoenix has landed, and you don’t need to be clown-phobic to get the heebie-jeebies.

The trailer was unveiled Tuesday to eager attendees at CinemaCon, but now the rest of the world can get a first look at the DC standalone pic. Check out the so, so serious teaser to Todd Phillips’ R-rated Joker above.

Set to the strains of Jimmy Durante’s “Smile,” the ultra-dark teaser begins with a voice-over from Phoenix’s Arthur, who says his mother “told me I had a purpose to bring laughter and joy to the world.” Arthur’s street clown is not having such a happy time, though, as he’s attacked by thugs in a Gotham that is “getting crazier out there.” An homage to Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and The King of Comedy, the teaser is a love letter to ’70s fare.

Phillips said Tuesday that the film is “still taking shape.” But he noted that there has been online chatter about what it “is and isn’t” and “most of it hasn’t been very accurate. I guess that’s what happens when you set out to do an origin story about a character that doesn’t have a definitive origin.”

When he was pressed to define the genre, Phillips said, “Well, it’s a tragedy.” Joker’s eerie final words in the teaser are a twist on that: “I used to think my life was a tragedy, but now I realize it’s a comedy.”

Joker begins offshore rollout on October 3, with domestic opening October 4.