Warner Bros was so, so serious today and unveiled the trailer to Todd Phillips’ R-rated Joker here to CinemaCon audiences before the world could see. “If anyone should get a first look at Joker, it’s the exhibitors,” said Phillips.

Phillips said the film is “still taking shape.” But he noted that there has been online chatter about “what the film is and isn’t” and “most of it hasn’t been very accurate. I guess that’s what happens when you set out to do an origin story about a character that doesn’t have a definitive origin.”

The trailer will drop tomorrow but it’s truly an homage to Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver and King of Comedy. A huge love letter to ’70s fare in how NYC is painted and the colors used on screen, yellows and earth tones. The pic opens on October 4.

Phillips said the only word he could give to WB marketing about The Joker is that “It’s a tragedy.”

“My mother always tells me to smile and put on a happy face. She told me I had a purpose, to bring laughter and joy to the world,” says Joaquin Phoenix’s Arthur in the footage. “Is it just me or is it just getting crazier out there?” says Phoenix dressed as a street clown who gets mugged.

“I use to think my life was a tragedy, but it’s a comedy,” says Phoenix.

Earlier today, the studio dropped the teaser one-sheet to Joker.