One of the most exciting film projects we’ve heard about in the last year is Todd Haynes’ untitled romantic drama starring Joaquin Phoenix. Little was known about the film’s plot, but the idea of two artists as talented as Haynes and Phoenix dating for the first time was reason enough to be excited. That they had worked closely together to develop the script and decided to do something “challenging” in an emotionally and sexually explicit way made it sound like the kind of risqué adult film we rarely see at that level anymore.
And now, five days before filming was scheduled to begin, Phoenix has left the production and Deadline called the film “completely dead.”
It’s extremely rare for a film to be canceled outright so close to the start of filming (the sets were built in Guadalajara, Mexico), and in this case it’s especially odd given that Phoenix was so closely involved in development. IndieWire first reported the Oscar winner’s departure, while Variety provided additional details on what is sure to become one of the biggest showbiz stories of the year.
There will undoubtedly be more information to come, but here’s what we know for now.
The inexplicable and apparently very costly exit of Phoenix
Last year, while promoting his excellent drama “May December,” Haynes expressed enormous excitement for the upcoming project. “Basically, it was just this wonderful, organic way of writing the script,” he told Variety. “And Joaquin made it even more sexually dangerous.” Phoenix began with what Haynes called “fragments of ideas” that he worked out with the star before writing the script with author and screenwriter Jon Raymond (who shared a Primetime Emmy nomination with Haynes for their HBO adaptation of James M. Cain’s “Mildred Pierce”). Danny Ramirez (“Top Gun: Maverick”) only recently came on board as Phoenix’s co-star, so things seemed to be moving along at a brisk pace.
Why did everything fall apart so suddenly?
Variety, citing “a source close to the production,” reports that Phoenix got “cold feet,” and Deadline reports that Phoenix pulled out just before last month’s San Diego Comic-Con. That’s bizarre considering Phoenix initiated the project and, according to Haynes, pushed for it to be more sexually explicit.
On a practical level, this is a disaster for everyone else involved. The crew and those involved will need to be compensated for lost work and investment – sources at Variety say this could be in the seven-figure range. Given the suddenness of Phoenix’s decision, we’ll likely have more to report soon. We’ll keep you posted.
The fall press tour for “Joker: Folie à Deux” will certainly be interesting.
