Joaquin Phoenix Todd Haynes Movie: The producer of Todd Haynes’ gay romance film has commented on Joaquin Phoenix’s sudden departure.
On August 9, reports claimed that the “Joker” star had withdrawn from the unfinished project five days before filming was due to begin.
According to Variety, a source claimed that Phoenix was scared because of the explicit sex scenes in the film.
The exit of the Gladiator star – who is currently not being recast – has reportedly put the film in jeopardy, with many crew members and stakeholders still not paid, with financial losses potentially as high as seven percentage points.
Finally, another report from Deadline states that Phoenix attended San Diego Comic Con in July with his co-star Danny Ramirez, who was unsure about the film’s future and left the set.
Although Haynes and Phoenix have not yet released a statement, one of the film’s producers – Christine Vachon of Killer Films – offered insight into the situation, calling it a nightmare.
There was a version of it, he wrote in a now-deleted Facebook post. It was a bad dream.
Elsewhere in his statement, Vachon asked online critics not to point fingers or berate him or his creative team for casting a mediocre actor in the role.
It was their project that brought them to America – and Killer’s track record of working with LGBTQ actors/collaborators/directors speaks for itself. (And those of you who have done this know you are making a terrible situation worse), he said.
The untitled gay romance drama “Phoenix” first made waves in May 2023 when Haynes announced that he would be working with the “Her” actor on the film.
“The next film is a feature film that is an original screenplay that I developed with Joaquin Phoenix based on some of the ideas and concepts that he presented to me,” the “May-December” director told Indie Wire.
He was originally our narrator. John Raymond, Joaquin and I share the story. We hope to start shooting early next year. It’s a gay love story set in 1930s Los Angeles.
Excitement for the film grew even further in July 2024 when Ramirez joined the cast as Phoenix’s girlfriend.
