Joaquin Phoenix ditches Todd Haynes movie days before filming

Posted On August 10, 2024August 10, 2024

With just days to go before the start of principal photography, Joaquin Phoenix has dropped out of Todd Haynes’ upcoming queer romance film, throwing the production into a state of disarray.

Shooting was scheduled to kick off in four days in Mexico, with the entire ensemble cast and crew in place, not to mention entire sets being constructed in Guadalajara, before the Academy Award-winning actor decided at the last second he didn’t want to do it anymore.

What makes the situation even stranger is that Phoenix originated the project and brought it to Haynes, developing the screenplay alongside the filmmaker and John Raymond. A source close to the production alleged that he’d gotten “cold feet”, which doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when he knew exactly what he was in for.

The untitled drama had already secured international distribution deals ahead of a single frame being shot, which was predicated on Phoenix’s casting in the lead. Unless Haynes can find somebody willing to step in at the very last second, the entire operation could go up in smoke and potentially lose millions of dollars, as well as leaving the crew without a job.

Haynes had previously described the film to Variety as a “love story between two men set in the ’30s that has explicit sexual content,” with an NC-17 rating already being planned. While there’s been talk that the graphic nature of the narrative helped influence Phoenix’s decision to quit, that flies in the face of what Haynes had already shared on the film.

He said, “Joaquin was pushing it further into more dangerous territory, sexually,” so it comes across as a head-scratcher that the person who developed the idea, brought it to a director, and helped secure funding and financing would then suddenly decide at the last second it was too risque a part to play.

“The whole experience was prompted by Joaquin,” Haynes had previously explained. “It was prompted by his daring, his desire to push through barriers and to really get into the uncomfortable places about this relationship. And yet it felt like a very organic process.” With that in mind, it’s bizarre for him to vacate the lead so abruptly, knowing full well there would be a serious knock-on effect.

As of yet there’s been no official explanation provided by either Phoenix or his representatives, but time is running out to prevent Haynes’ latest from completely falling apart.

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