Producer on Todd Haynes’ untitled romance film comments on Joaquin Phoenix’s sudden departure

Last month, Joaquin Phoenix would make headlines. Not for his upcoming Joker sequel, but because Phoenix would exit from a Todd Haynes film about gay lovers just as it was about to go into production. Haynes’ film revolves around two men who are intense lovers and leave California for Mexico. The reason for Phoenix’s exit is unclear. Still, some have wondered if the project’s intimate and explicit content was a factor. While Phoenix was promoting Joker: Folie à Deux at the Venice Film Festival, he was asked briefly about the situation and replied, “If I do, I’d just be sharing my opinion from my perspective and the other creatives aren’t here to share their piece so I don’t think that would be helpful. So I won’t.”

The Hollywood Reporter has revealed that Christine Vachon, who was a producer on Haynes’ film, spoke about the ordeal at the San Sebastian Film Festival. Vachon stated, “The truth is, pretty much what happened is out there for all of you to see. If I had anything to gossip about it, I would, but I don’t. It was tragic. The most tragic part about it, in my mind, is Todd Haynes is 62. There’s a finite number of films that they’ll be able to do in his lifetime. I consider him one of the most extraordinary film artists of his generation.”

She continues, “The idea that his 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 and that I can’t get over. We, as a cultural community, lost an opportunity to have another movie by Todd Haynes. That is just criminal.” Vachon had also conveyed that the days following Phoenix’s exit had been “a nightmare.” No plans to recast have been announced.

As for Phoenix’s upcoming October release, Joker: Folie à Deux, director Todd Phillips recently talked about the unsettling feeling the movie will leave audiences with. “For the people that have seen this movie in general … at the end, they sit and they don’t move for about three to five minutes,” Phillips said. “Then they text me, the ones that know me, or email me and go, ‘I need a minute to process the movie.’” Phillips added, “I think it’s going to leave you with a very unsettling … I think it’s unsettling.”