Joaquin Phoenix Abruptly Departs Explicit “Gay Romance” Film, Causing Uproar With Producers
Before Joker: Folie a Deux releases to sing to our hearts and try to make us laugh, we have learned what star Joaquin Phoenix’s next movie was going to be – because the actor suddenly jumped ship five days before shooting could begin.
The Hollywood Reporter says Phoenix was set to film a period gay romance directed by I’m Not There filmmaker Todd Haynes that the former helped develop. However, he must have gotten cold feet as Phoenix left producers and crew at the altar in Guadalajara, Mexico, where filming on the untitled project was scheduled.
It is now being put on an indefinite hold as Phoenix won’t be recast, which isn’t sitting well with investors or crew. A source informed THR that sets were ready and everyone is “devastated” they will sit unused while the budget goes down the drain.
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Why Phoenix exited is unknown and his team has not responded to requests for comment, but that is the least of anyone’s worries among those attached to the production. With cast and crew “in a lurch,” Phoenix is now susceptible “to the possibility of legal action,” according to a follow-up report.
“There’s been a huge amount of outrage,” said an unnamed studio executive. “In recent days, the drumbeat has gotten louder among the producing community for legal action to be brought against Phoenix,” adds THR.
They also note Phoenix’s history of difficulties on sets. He notoriously “threatened to leave Ridley Scott’s Napoleon unless his The Master filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson was brought in to do rewrites,” according to two sources. Troubled episodes also sprung up to varying degrees making other films including Joker.
The sequel hasn’t even premiered at European festivals like Venice yet and there are reported fears the controversy will loom large over the coming press tour. Worries of violence from supposed incels dogged the 2019 film: but it went on to gross over a billion dollars without much incident.
Todd Haynes, who is gay, has explored LGBT relations before in his films Carol, Velvet Goldmine, and Far From Heaven (which was based loosely on the Rock Hudson movie All That Heaven Allows).
He has also attracted big-name actors to his pictures. They include Cate Blanchett, Phoenix’s partner Rooney Mara, Christian Bale, Ewan McGregor, and also Dennis Quaid among others.
Haynes’s films have been rather tame up until last year’s May December although he did run into trouble with his controversial short Superstar for its experimental and bleak depiction of the life of singer Karen Carpenter.
