Joaquin Phoenix has reportedly dropped out of Todd Haynes’ new gay romance film just five days before they were due to start filming.
The untitled film was ready to begin shooting in Guadalajara, Mexico next week, but Variety has confirmed that the Oscar-winning actor has withdrawn from the project, with someone close to the film saying Phoenix got “cold feet”.
Phoenix had worked on the screenplay of the film alongside Haynes, known for helming Carol, I’m Not There and May December, and Jon Raymond.
Variety reports that the future of the project is now in peril, despite it having already been sold to international distributors. The film’s crew are now said to be out of work with losses speculated to potentially exceed seven figures.
Unconfirmed speculation suggests that Phoenix’s decision is related to the graphic nature of the sex scenes in the film. Neither Phoenix nor Haynes have responded to requests to comment on the reports.
Elsewhere, Phoenix is set to star in Joker: Folie à Deux, which is released on October 2. He will reprise his role as Arthur Fleck, and Lady Gaga taking on the role of Harleen Quinzel, aka Harley Quinn, the Joker’s sidekick and lover.
The film is expected to be a musical, but Phoenix recently suggested that it could have taken an even more unusual genre turn when he revealed that he and director Todd Phillips had discussed setting the film “in space”.
The film has been described as “mostly a jukebox musical”, and Phoenix, who picked up an Oscar for the first movie, recently said that Gaga was so impressed when she first heard him singing that she spat out her coffee.
It will also star Steve Coogan, Atlanta’s Zazie Beetz, as well as Catherine Keener (Being John Malkovich) and Brendan Gleeson (The Banshees of Inisherin).
Phoenix will also reportedly appear in Hereditary director Ari Aster’s new film Eddington. It has been described as a “contemporary western”, and it will also feature Emma Stone, Pedro Pascal and Austin Butler.