‘Outrage’ after Joaquin Phoenix quits Todd Haynes movie days before filming

The fallout from Joaquin Phoenix’s decision to drop out of a movie five days before the start of production continued to reverberate.

Phoenix was to headline an untitled 1930s-set gay romance detective movie from director Todd Haynes, opposite Top Gun: Maverick and Captain America: Brave New World actor Danny Ramirez.

Sources to the American press cited “cold feet” as the reason for Phoenix’s withdrawal, which effectively killed the entire project and left the crew cast out of a job.

Filming was due to start and sets had already been built in Mexico but, according to Indiewire who first broke the story, Phoenix was still in Los Angeles when he quit.

The financing for the film was contingent on Phoenix’s involvement – it’s common practice for independent films to pre-sell international distribution rights off the back of a big name that is expected to attract audiences.

Phoenix had been the one to bring the project to Haynes and he developed the script with Haynes and writer John Raymond.

With more than $US1 million already spent, Phoenix has left himself open to legal challenges, one unnamed studio executive told The Hollywood Reporter. “There’s been a huge amount of outrage,” the person added.

Puck reported producers had met and discussed all options, including whether to sue Phoenix for breach of contract and recoup the money already spent. The publication added the “current thinking” is that Phoenix will “likely” pay a portion of the costs.

The drama has reignited stories of what many in the industry already knew, which is that the Oscar-winning actor has a history of “cold feet” just before the start of production.

The Hollywood Reporter quoted two sources that claimed Phoenix had threatened to quit Ridley Scott’s Napoleon epic unless the production brought on Paul Thomas Anderson, with whom he had worked on The Master and Inherent Vice, to do rewrites. THR said Phoenix was eventually “placated” and stayed.

Scott had previously said that Phoenix’s questions over the film led to significant changes to the movie. He said, “With Joaquin, we can rewrite the goddamn film because he’s uncomfortable. And that kind of happened with Napoleon. We unpicked the film to help him focus on who Bonaparte was.

“I had to respect that because what was being said was incredibly constructive.”

Phoenix also apparently almost walked from Joker and C’mon C’mon before he was talked off a ledge.

The actor is about to embark on a press tour to promote the release of Joke: Folie a Deux, starting with its premiere at the Venice Film Festival. While Phoenix is notorious for doing little press, he will want to quickly settle any unpleasantness emanating from this episode to not distract from the Joker sequel.

Haynes’ work includes Far From Heaven, Carol, May December and I’m Not There.

Phoenix is not the only actor whose last-minute withdrawal has killed a movie.

Natalie Portman was due to start shooting the HBO film Days of Abandonment in Sydney in August 2021 when she left the project due to “unseen personal circumstances”. It was to co-star Rafe Spall and Mary-Louise Parker and was based on an Elena Ferrante novel.

Permits had already been secured for filming in Sydney’s eastern suburbs when the plug was pulled. Portman had already been in Australia for many months working on the Marvel movie Thor: Love and Thunder when she and her family abruptly left. The film was supposed to have employed 200 cast and crew. After her exit, it was never made.

In 1993, Kim Basinger had to pay $US3.8 million in damages after she was found to have breached a verbal contract to star in the film Boxing Helena.

In 1997, Bruce Willis dropped out of Broadway Brawler midway through production. To make up for it, Willis had to star in three Disney films for less than his usual salary.

In 1996, John Travolta was signed to Roman Polanski’s adaptation of Fyodor Dostoevsky’s novel The Double when he quit nine days before filming after a furious row with the director. Polanski would later claim that it was probably a good thing because he didn’t think that “Travolta would have been up to it”.

Polanski’s version was never made but Dostoevsky’s book was later adapted in 2013 by Richard Ayoade who shot it with Jesse Eisenberg and Mia Wasikowska in the lead roles.