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News broke last week of Joaquin Phoenix’s abrupt and unexpected exit from Todd Haynes’ next film just five days before production was to begin in Mexico.
The untitled project has been dubbed a 1930s detective noir and will focus on an intense romance between characters that were to be played by Phoenix and Danny Ramirez. As financing was reportedly reliant on Phoenix’s involvement, the project is now effectively dead.
The departure came as a big surprise as it was made clear Phoenix first brought the project to Haynes and his producers Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler, and was developing it alongside them.
Several sources say Phoenix got cold feet in the lead-up to the production, but the actual reasons for his exit remain unclear. Trade publications have reportedly requested a response from his representatives, but so far have gone unanswered.
Now, THR has done a report going into the fallout of what’s happened with one studio executive saying there’s a “huge amount of outrage” from the producing community and there is the possibility of legal action.
The new report also alleges that Phoenix threatened to leave Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon” before production unless Paul Thomas Anderson was brought in to do re-writes.
All of this is going down as Phoenix will shortly be launching “Joker: Folie a Deux” at the Venice Film Festival. Even as Phoenix generally does little press for his films, there’s concern the controversy may potentially impact the press tour – even as the film itself is certain to be a massive hit.
One agent for the trade says Phoenix will likely not face significant career blowback and suggests he will probably come to a settlement with the producers over the money spent on the production prior to his exit.
