Todd Phillips blames 'hypersensitive climate' for his shift to dark films

After receiving rave reviews for his much-awaited film 'Joker,' director Todd Phillips opened up about the sudden shift from making popular comedies to dramatic films.

The 48-year-old director was known for irreverent comedies such as 'The Hangover' trilogy, 'Old School' and the remake of 'Starsky & Hutch.'

In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, the director explained how the current hypersensitive climate that comedies find themselves in made him turn away from the genre, reported Fox News.

"Go try to be funny nowadays with this woke culture," he told the outlet. "There were articles written about why comedies don't work anymore -- I'll tell you why, because all the f---ing funny guys are like, 'F--- this s---, because I don't want to offend you.'"

"It's hard to argue with 30 million people on Twitter. You just can't do it, right? So you just go, 'I'm out.' I'm out, and you know what? With all my comedies - I think that what comedies, in general, all have in common - is they're irreverent," he explained.

"So I go, 'How do I do something irreverent, but f--- comedy? Oh I know, let's take the comic book movie universe and turn it on its head with this.' And so that's really where that came from," he said.

Phillips also revealed that his decision to make dark films led him directly to Joaquin Phoenix and the film.

The film depicts the infamous Batman antagonist in a never-before-seen light, offering a unique origin story to the immensely dark character and separating him from most of the Caped Crusader's typical lore.

"Joker" has been the subject of controversy after early screenings due to its depictions of violence and attempts to have the audience sympathize with the villain, a down-on-his-luck comedian shunned by society.

"We're making a movie about a fictional character in a fictional world, ultimately, and your hope is that people take it for what it is. You can't blame movies for a world that is so f---ed up that anything can trigger it," the director explained.

"That's kind of what the movie is about," Phillips added. "It's not a call to action. If anything it's a call to self-reflection to society," he said.