We know, we know – you kinda already new this, right? Yes, as the headline suggests, that Joaquin Phoenix-starring Joker movie is now official.

As per The Hollywood Reporter, now comes confirmation that it’s all systems go on the project after Phoenix has now finalised a deal to see him play the Clown Prince of Crime in Todd Phillips’ Joker picture.

Recently, we’d heard how the film was going to be made on the relatively-modest budget for $55 million – marking it as far less costly than your average comic book movie these days. The Hangover’s Phillips is directing and has co-wrote the script with Scott Silver, and the legendary Martin Scorsese is producing.

The current plan is for the to-be-titled Joker effort to start filming in New York this September. At this early stage, the film is being pegged as a crime drama that will be “darker and more experimental in tone and content” and is being described as “an exploration of a man disregarded by society that is not only a gritty character study, but also a broader cautionary tale.”

This movie will be developed completely separately to Warner Brothers’ DC Extended Universe in which Jared Leto plays the Jester of Genocide. In fact, the last we’d heard was that Phoenix’s Joker picture will be part of a new Warners/DC banner called DC Dark or DC Black; a banner that will be used to develop more adult-orientated content.

For Jared Leto’s Mr J, he’s also got a solo movie in the works in addition to a twisted romance picture alongside Margot Robbie’s Harley Quinn.