Fan Captures Joaquin Phoenix's Joker Stairs Scene In Real-Time

It has become one of the iconic scenes in cinema this year, and now footage shows that one lucky fan appears to have captured the moments that show Joaquin Phoenix warming up to dance down the stairs in Joker.

Take a look at this - history in the making.

Obviously, the film has gone on to be one of the biggest hits of the movie calendar to date, taking in a huge amount at the box office and moving into serious contention for awards consideration in the process.

However, one slightly unexpected consequence of Todd Phillips' film's success has been that it has turned an ordinary staircase in The Bronx into a tourist hotspot.

That's because one of the scenes in the film shows Phoenix's character, Arthur Fleck - on his way to becoming The Clown Prince of Crime - sauntering and dancing his way down the staircase to the strains of 'Rock and Roll Part 2' by disgraced UK pop-star Gary Glitter.

Anyway, it looks as if one person managed to capture the moments before the magic in a short clip that ends as Phoenix begins to descend the stairs.

He can be seen psyching himself up into character, performing a couple of dance moves ahead of the clapper-board going down, tapping his feet.

Then, he sets off down the stairs to perform the now-iconic dance.

Weirdly enough, not everyone has been overjoyed about the area becoming a film fanatic hotspot.

Reports suggest that local residents of The Bronx have actually been quite put out by movie fans trotting up and down the stairs on social media.

A flyer was recently taped to a lamppost near the stairs that said: "It is disrespectful to treat our community and residents as a photo opportunity for your social media or 'it' moment. This is real life, not a movie and we're not jokin'."

According to ComicBook.com, resident Jonathan Francis said: "We hope it ends soon because we don't need this.

"We feel disrespected."

Well, it doesn't seem as if it'll stop any time soon. Joker has been an unqualified success at the box office, and recently became the most profitable comic book film of all time.

OK, so Avengers: Endgame took more at the box office, but had a vastly larger budget. With a relatively modest budget of $62m, Joker has nearly surpassed $1bn in ticket sales.

That means that in relation to initial cost, it is the most successful comic book film to date.

Better get used to people dancing down those stairs in The Bronx, then.

Featured Image Credit: Warner Bros

Topics: TV and Film, US News, US Entertainment

Tom Wood

Tom Wood is a LADbible journalist and Twin Peaks enthusiast. Despite having a career in football cut short by a chronic lack of talent, he managed to obtain degrees from both the University of London and Salford. According to his French teacher, at the weekend he mostly likes to play football and go to the park with his brother. Contact Tom on [email protected]

@TPWagwim