Joaquin Phoenix has dropped out of Todd Haynes’ new film, which won’t be moving forward. More on the story below.
Todd Haynes’ next film was due to start filming in Mexico next week, but the film is now seemingly dead in the water.
The Playlist’s Rodrigo Perez tweeted on Thursday (8th August) that though he “can’t confirm” it, Joaquin Phoenix had left the project. Perez’ tweet turns out to be true as Deadline now also reports that the entire film has been scrapped, with some crew members owed money for their work.
According to Deadline, Phoenix “stormed” off the set and while producers tried to find a replacement for the actor, the film isn’t moving forward anymore.
Haynes said in May 2023 that Phoenix brought the project to him and that the film would be a 1930s set romance between two men. Danny Ramirez was also due to star in the film and apparently flew to San Diego Comic-Con without knowing if the film would still happen or not after Phoenix left.
World Of Reel also reports that Phoenix was pushing Haynes to go further with the sex in the film and that the film would have ended up with the feared NC-17 rating. Haynes wrote the script for the film with Jon Raymond, but Phoenix was due to get a story credit.
Phoenix is due to appear next in Todd Phillips’ Joker: Folie à Deux, reprising his role as Arthur Fleck from 2019’s Joker, a role which brought him an Oscar. This isn’t the first time Phoenix has left a film abruptly. The actor reportedly also left Joker and C’Mon C’Mon, but Phillips and Mike Mills managed to convince the actor to come back.
