Todd Haynes Speaks Out on Joaquin Phoenix Dropping Out of His Gay Romance Movie: It Was ‘Tough’ but the ‘Script May Resurrect in a Different Form’

By Ben Croll

According To The variety Todd Haynes has spoken for the first time about his Joaquin Phoenix-led gay romance that fell apart just five days before filming.

During a conversation at Marrakech Film Festival on Friday, Haynes was asked about the project, which the moderator initially said the director would not speak on. However, Haynes proceeded to make a brief statement.

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

The gay love story apparently followed a corrupt cop and his younger lover as they fled 1930s Los Angeles for Mexico, with Phoenix set to star alongside Danny Ramirez. In fact, Phoenix had originated the idea, bringing the project to Killer Films’ Christine Vachon and developing the screenplay with Haynes and Jon Raymond.

Sources close to the production told Variety that the star got “cold feet” — perhaps due to the film’s intended graphic and sexually frank love scenes — and made the last-minute decision to exit the film even as full sets were already built in Guadalajara. Haynes neither confirmed nor denied those speculations during the conversation.

Since the film fell apart in August, Phoenix declined to comment while at a Venice press conference, saying his opinion would not be “helpful” because “he other creatives aren’t here to say their piece and it just doesn’t feel like that would be right,” while producer Christine Vachon was considerably more candid when she discussed the ill-fated project from San Sebastián.

“The idea that [Todd’s] 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,” Vachon said. “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 spoke with Variety about the situation in October, saying it was “definitely disappointing.”

Haynes will serve as jury president at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival, which kicks off in February, while the Marrakech Film Festival wraps on Saturday.