Directed by Vera Drew, The People’s Joker opens with a disclaimer noting that it’s an unauthorized parody, but nevertheless it was famously pulled from the Toronto International Film Festival last year due to copyright issues. Naturally, that controversy shot the movie to the top of must-see lists, and Variety reports that you’ll finally be able to see it next year.

Altered Innocence will release The People’s Joker in theaters on April 5, 2024.

Variety details, “The People’s Joker stars Drew as a painfully unfunny aspiring clown called Joker the Harlequin. Her character grapples with her gender identity while unsuccessfully attempting to join the ranks of Gotham City’s sole comedy program in a world where comedy has been outlawed.

“Uniting with a ragtag team of rejects and misfits, Joker forms an illegal anti-comedy troupe that puts her on a collision course with the devious caped crusader controlling the city.”

“Vera Drew has taken her own life experiences and traumas to craft an entirely new genre of cinema that blurs the lines between documentary, coming-of-age film, and parody,” said Altered Innocence’s Frank Jaffe. “We couldn’t be more thrilled to champion this bold, intelligent and hilarious piece of queer cinema that audiences around the globe have fallen in love with.”

“This movie started as a D.I.Y. community project for queer artists, and I made it with my friends to process what it was like coming out as a trans woman working in the film and TV industry,” Drew said. “It has been a long road freeing ‘The People’s Joker’ and finding a release plan that rings true to the queer, anarchist spirit we had while making it. What better home than among Altered Innocence’s catalog of gorgeously gay and deliciously edgy films.”

Joe Lipsett reviewed The People’s Joker for Bloody Disgusting last year, writing: “This transgender Joker origin story is steeped in Batman and DC references, but it is unabashedly ruthless in who and what it mocks, resolutely taking aim at certain canonical characters and plotlines while also reverently paying homage to many iterations of Batsy.”

Joe’s review continued, “The People’s Joker is an unabashed love letter to Batman properties, to camp, stand-up comedians, and – most importantly – the trans community. It is daring and ambitious and unapologetic. Plus: it’s got a killer soundtrack of parody songs.”