DC Studios, Warner Bros. Animation and SOLA Entertainment are teaming up for DC’s first anime series, “Joker: Laugh Riot.” The show was announced during a Warner Bros. Animation panel devoted to their partnership with DC Studios, at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival. The show has been greenlit to series.
The official logline for “Joker: Laugh Riot” reads: “When Batman is murdered, the Joker launches a ruthless crusade through Gotham’s underworld to find the killer who took away his greatest adversary. But as his violent quest for answers pushes him closer towards vigilante than villain, Joker is forced to confront the truth that without Batman, he doesn’t know who he is.”
“Joker: Laugh Riot” will be produced by Jim Krieg and directed by Yasuhuro Aoki. Aoki directed one of last year’s very best animated features, “ChaO,” for Studio 4°C and Toei. (It was released by GKIDS domestically.) Aoki also has experience in the world of Gotham City, having directed the “In Darkness Dwells” segment of “Batman: Gotham Knight,” an anime anthology made up of segments produced by various Japanese and South Korean studios. His segment was written by David S. Goyer, who co-wrote the Christopher Nolan Dark Knight trilogy, and featured both the Scarecrow and Killer Croc. It is very cool.
SOLA Entertainment’s recent credits include the underrated “Lord of the Rings” anime film “The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim” (which Aoki also worked on) for Warner Bros. Animation, “Rick & Morty: The Anime” for Adult Swim and “Lazarus,” also for Adult Swim. “Lazarus” hailed from “Cowboy Bebop” vet Shinichirō Watanabe and “John Wick” director Chad Stahelksi, who designed the action scenes.
The decision for DC Studios and Warner Bros. Animation to enter the anime space with an anime devoted to some of their most famous characters speaks to the cultural cache that anime has in the current landscape and just how important it is for western properties to have part of that space.
While no timeline or network/streaming service has been announced for the project.
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