Fans May or May Not Get a Joker Sequel

Greetings, welcome to another edition of The Monitor, WIRED’s culture news roundup. Today we have news from many corners of the galaxy — from Netflix, to the Grammys, to the DC Extended Universe. Time to dive in.

Lizzo, Billie Eilish, and Lil Nas X Top the Grammy Nominations

The Recording Academy announced the nominees for this year’s Grammy Awards yesterday, and 2019’s freshman class definitely won the day. Lizzo led the nominations with eight, followed closely by Billie Eilish and Lil Nas X, who both got six nods each. (Eilish and her co-writer brother, Finneas O’Connell, earned 11 nominations total.) Elsewhere, Ariana Grande and H.E.R. each received five nominations. The Grammys will be handed out on January 26.

Todd Phillips May Make a Joker Sequel

Todd Phillips’ Joker, which has now made more than $1 billion at the box office, may be getting a sequel. Why say “may be”? Well, on Wednesday, The Hollywood Reporter claimed Phillips was “likely to reteam with star Joaquin Phoenix on a follow-up” to the film. Then, several hours later, Deadline reported that there were “no deals for a sequel, nor even any negotiations with director Todd Phillips or his co-writer Scott Silver to craft one.” Then, io9 found a source who claimed the Deadline piece was the correct story. As of this writing, THR is standing by its reporting. Considering Joker‘s massive success, it’s hard to imagine Warner Bros. wouldn’t want a sequel, but for now this movie feels like a strong maybe.

Netflix Is Making a Chinatown Prequel Series, Because Reasons

Further solidifying that everything will get rebooted eventually, Deadline is reporting that Netflix is working on a prequel series to Chinatown, Roman Polanski’s 1974 movie about a private eye on the tail of an adulterer. The series will reportedly be created by Robert Towne, who wrote the original film’s script, and David Fincher (The Social Network). It’ll focus on the early days of Jake Gittes, the PI played by Jack Nicholson in Polanski’s movie.

There’s a New Crispr Documentary Coming

Finally, it’s trailer time. Human Nature looks at the development of Crispr—and all of its many impacts and implications. The movie hits theaters February 2020.