Todd Haynes addresses Joaquin Phoenix exiting gay romance movie five days before filming

Todd Haynes is finally breaking his silence months after Joaquin Phoenix abruptly walked away from their gay period drama just five days before it was set to begin filming. 

The director, who had developed the explicit 1930s romance in collaboration with Phoenix for years prior to the actor’s sudden exit, spoke about how the film fell apart during a conversation at the Marrakech Film Festival on Friday. 

“What happened this summer was tough,” Haynes said, per Variety. “But the film itself and the script itself may resurrect in a different form someday.”

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In August, sources confirmed to Entertainment Weekly that Phoenix, who co-wrote the untitled film’s screenplay with Jon Raymond, had exited the project just as filming was set to commence in Mexico. At the time, there were no plans to recast his role, as financing was largely dependent upon Phoenix’s involvement. 

The film, which was also set to star Top Gun: Maverick and Captain America: Brave New World actor Danny Ramirez, was described by Haynes to the press as a sexually explicit gay romance between a corrupt L.A. cop and Native American that was set in 1930s Los Angeles and Mexico. Phoenix was set to star as the lead, while Ramirez’s role had not been revealed prior to the project being placed in production limbo. 

Phoenix later evaded a question about abandoning the film during a Joker: Folie à Deux press conference in September, stating at the time that he didn’t think it was appropriate for him to speak about it without Haynes. 

“I think, if I do, I’d just be sharing my opinion from my perspective and the other creatives aren’t here to say their piece, and I just don’t feel like that would be right. I’m not sure how that would be helpful,” Phoenix, 50, said, according to Deadline. “So, I just I don’t think I will.”

That same month, Haynes’ longtime producer Christine Vachon called it a “tragedy” to see a film from the visionary director behind LGBTQ projects like Carol and The Velvet Goldmine implode so suddenly.

“The idea that [Haynes’] time was wasted and that a movie is not a result of those years of working closely with Joaquin… That is the tragedy to me,” she said during a Fireside Talk at the 2024 San Sebastian Film Festival Creative Investor’s Conference, per Deadline. “And that I can’t get over, that we, as a cultural community, lost the opportunity to have another movie by Todd Haynes. That is just criminal.”

Ramirez also told Variety in October that Phoenix dropping out of the project was “definitely disappointing,” but he had found a silver lining in the months since.

“If anything, it just gave me more inspiration to keep driving, keep pushing, and knowing that I’m on the right path and approaching the work the right way,” he added. “So that’s what I’m excited about.”