Joaquin Phoenix has dropped out of director Todd Haynes’ untitled gay romance just five days before shooting was scheduled to begin in Mexico, Variety has confirmed.
Phoenix had been working on a detective love story with Haynes and Jon Raymond, and a source close to the production told Variety that Phoenix “backed off.” An entire set had been built in Guadalajara before Phoenix decided to pull out of the film at the last minute.
Representatives for Haynes and Phoenix did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment.
The film, which was produced by Killer Films and backed by sales agent MK2 Films, had already been pitched to international distributors before production. Variety’s sources say the project is in jeopardy and Phoenix cannot reprise his role. Crew members are now out of work and stakeholders in the film still need to be paid. Losses could exceed seven figures.
Top Gun: Maverick star Danny Ramirez joined the cast in July as Phoenix’s love interest. In 2023, Haynes teased the project as “a sexually explicit love story between two men set in the 1930s” in an interview with Variety. The film is rated NC-17 and is said to depict a relationship that will “challenge” audiences.
There has been speculation among crew members that Phoenix’s departure was due to the film’s sexually explicit content, but this theory has confused some sources, who repeatedly claim that it was Phoenix who first brought the project and its NC-17 concept to Haynes.
Haynes told Variety in September 2023 that the film started with “pieces of an idea” from Phoenix, which the director fleshed out into an “actual story” before bringing in Raymond.
“It was basically a great, organic way of developing the script,” Haynes said, “and then Joaquin was pushing it into more and more dangerous territory sexually.”
IndieWire first reported the news of Phoenix’s departure after rumors were posted on social media.
