Joaquin Phoenix’s Sudden Film Exit Sparks Uproar in Hollywood

Joaquin Phoenix’s sudden exit from a highly anticipated gay romance film has reportedly caused significant outrage in Hollywood and may result in legal action.

The Joker star was set to lead an untitled detective love story that he had originally pitched to director Todd Haynes. However, just five days before production was scheduled to start, Phoenix made a last-minute decision to withdraw from the film due to “cold feet,” a source told Variety.

Entire sets had already been constructed in Guadalajara, Mexico, where the shooting was supposed to occur. Phoenix abandoned the project in early July, just days before the scheduled shoot, leaving the cast and crew in a difficult situation.

Reports now indicate that legal action could follow, as industry veterans express significant backlash over the decision.

“There’s been a huge amount of outrage,” one studio executive told The Hollywood Reporter. According to the publication, sources suggest that this decision could result in legal action.

Phoenix, an Oscar-winning actor, is known for his anxiety leading up to a movie. THR reported that Phoenix nearly backed out of the 2023 biopic Napoleon, insisting that his trusted The Master filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson be brought on for rewrites.

There is precedent for actors having to make amends for breaches of contract after abandoning a project. For instance, Kim Basinger’s breach of a verbal contract to star in Boxing Helena in 1993, and Bruce Willis being made to star in three Disney films to compensate for dropping out of Broadway Brawler midway through production.

Produced by Killer Films and backed by sales agent MK2 Film, Phoenix’s movie had already been sold to international distributors. Variety further reports that Phoenix’s role cannot be recast, leaving the crew unemployed and investors unpaid, with potential losses exceeding seven figures.

In July, Top Gun: Maverick actor Danny Ramirez joined the cast to play Phoenix’s love interest.

Phoenix is set to promote his upcoming Joker sequel, Joker: Folie à Deux, in the coming weeks. However, the collapse of the Haynes project threatens to overshadow his publicity tour.

In the past, Phoenix has opened up about his anxiety when accepting roles. In an interview with Anderson Cooper, he revealed that he often feels “petrified” and worries about finding the right way to express his ideas.

Director Todd Haynes, known for directing queer films such as the Oscar-nominated Carol (2015) and last year’s May December, first teased the project in a 2023 interview with Variety. He described it as “a love story between two men set in the [1930s] that has explicit sexual content.”

Haynes added that the movie, which was set to be rated NC-17 (a rating given to films with material inappropriate for people under 17), aimed to feature a relationship that challenges audiences.

“[Phoenix] had fragments of ideas and then I started to formulate them into an actual narrative,” Haynes told the outlet, adding that “Joaquin was pushing it further into more dangerous territory, sexually.”

Source: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter