Todd Haynes is planning to push the envelope with an 18-rated drama that aims to ‘go further with the sex’. Joaquin Phoenix stars.
Todd Haynes was out on the festival circuit late last summer presenting his latest film, May December, when he started to drop a few details regarding his next project – a collaboration with Joaquin Phoenix.
When Haynes revealed that he was planning to work with Phoenix next, it certainly sounded like an appealing collaboration between two highly-respected talents.
Screenwriter Jon Mildred (who previously worked with Haynes on 2002’s Far From Heaven) became involved at that point and the story was fleshed out further. As yet untitled, the story will be ‘a romance tale between two very different men set in the 1930s.’ Haynes added, ‘One is a Native American character and one is a corrupt cop in LA. It’s set in the 30s. They have to flee LA ultimately and go to Mexico.’
While we still don’t have a title for the film, we do have a couple of updates for you.
According to Deadline, the film will be shopped around at the upcoming European Film Market in the coming weeks, so expect to hear acquisition news in the near future. What’s more, Haynes is said to be looking at an early summer date to shoot the movie in Mexico.
How easy the film will be to sell, given that Haynes believes its sex scenes will make it an 18-rated film, remains to be seen. Of course, Haynes is an extremely gifted filmmaker who has become adept at making movies on smaller budgets. May December was made for just $20m, despite featuring a raft of movie star talent and being a beautiful film to look at. We’re sure that he’ll be able to finance this next project in a similar fashion, although we’re curious as to how the film’s period setting will be achieved if the budget is smaller.
We’ll bring you more on this one (including its title) as we hear it.
Read more: May December review | Todd Haynes’ latest film is devilishly delicious
