Joker 'a betrayal' of mentally ill people, says David Fincher

Mank director rails at the risk-averse production strategy of major Hollywood studios

Mank director David Fincher has described Todd Phillips' Oscar-winning Joker as a betrayal" of mentally ill people.

In an interview with the Daily Telegraph, Fincher was reflecting on Joker's surprise success at the box office in a wide-ranging attack on the risk-averse production strategy of the major Hollywood studios. Saying that studios don't want to make anything that can't make them a billion dollars", he also suggested that occasionally challenging" material can get support, if there is solid previous evidence of commercial potential.