Christine Vachon, a producer working on director Todd Haynes‘ untitled gay romance movie, has chinned in on the status of the feature. She shared on social media this weekend that the situation has been “a nightmare.” Her update comes after the drama’s lead actor, Joaquin Phoenix, abruptly left the production last week, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Reports surfaced on Friday that the Oscar-winning actor exited the project just five days before filming was scheduled to begin in Guadalajara, Mexico. Phoenix’s reason for leaving the movie has not yet been publicly revealed. His exit has left confusion within the drama’s crew, including Vachon, since he initially brought the feature to Haynes and the producers.
The film would have marked Phoenix’s first gay onscreen role. The project has been described as a detective movie set in the 1930s, which would have followed two men fleeing to Mexico after they fall in love.
Vachon, who runs the production company Killer Films, which has produced all of Haynes’ movies, shared an article about the situation on Facebook. She wrote: “A version of this did happen. It has been a nightmare.”
The producer also addressed criticism in a since deleted post that Phoenix, who is straight, had been cast in the starring role as a gay character in the drama. “If you are tempted to finger wag or admonish us that ‘that’s what you get for casting a straight actor’ – DON’T,” she wrote. “This was HIS project that he brought to US – and Killer’s record on working with LGBTQ actors/crew/directors speaks for itself. (and for those of you who HAVE – know that you are making a terrible situation even worse).”
Haynes also shared a similar sentiment with IndieWire last year during his press tour for his Netflix film, May December. The helmer shared that “Joaquin Phoenix was the untitled movie’s driving force.”
The filmmaker added: “The whole experience was prompted by Joaquin Phoenix. It was prompted by his daring, his desire to push through barriers and to really get into the uncomfortable places about this relationship,” the filmmaker stated. The actor even developed the screenplay for the drama with Haynes and Jon Raymond.
Haynes even told IndieWire last year at Cannes that Phoenix was the one pushing to “go further” with the explicit scenes. They likely would have garnered the film an NC-17 rating.
The news of Phoenix’s departure from the detective noir movie comes after previous reports indicated that sets were already built in Guadalajara. The overall crew had already started to assemble in the Mexican city, as well. International sales were already set. However, Phoenix never left Los Angeles to travel to the drama’s set.
Besides Phoenix, the film was set to co-star Danny Ramirez, whose credits include Top Gun: Maverick and the forthcoming Captain America: Brave New World. In addition to Vachon, Pam Koffler was also set to produce the movie.
After Phoenix’s exit from the untitled drama, producers have spent the past few weeks trying to save the project, but to no avail. As a result, his role will not be recast, and the film’s production will not continue.
Phoenix will next be seen in co-writer-director Todd Phillips’ anticipated musical psychological thriller, Joker: Folie à Deux. The movie serves as a sequel to 2019’s Joker, for which the actor won his Academy Award, as well as a SAG Award and his second Golden Globe. The follow-up is set to be released in theaters on October 4.
The Oscar-nominated Haynes most recently helmed May December. He also directed the 2015 historical romance drama, Carol, which starred Phoenix’s partner, Rooney Mara, in an Oscar-nominated performance.
Haynes will now focus on helming the limited series Trust, an adaptation of Hernan Diaz’s novel about upper-class financial ruin in the 20th century. The screen adaptation will feature Kate Winslet, who previously worked with the filmmaker on the 2011 HBO miniseries, Mildred Pierce.
Haynes will reunited with Jon Raymond, who was nominated for an Emmy for writing Mildred Pierce, to scribe the upcoming series, which will also air on HBO. The latter also worked with the director and Phoenix on developing the story for the cancelled untitled movie.
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