Was it cold feet … or something more?
While most would assume longtime actor Joaquin Phoenix would be in the Hollywood headlines for his feature role in the forthcoming release of the highly anticipated sequel to “The Joker,” the 49-year-old actor has found himself as the super-villain of a completely different movie — but in a much more real way.
On Friday The Hollywood Reporter said, Phoenix has ruffled quite a few feathers in Hollywood after he abruptly exited a gay romance film “days before filming was to begin.”
The report claimed that Phoenix ditched the project less than a week before it was to begin filming in Mexico, effectively cancelling the entire production.
The untitled movie was said to have been set in the 1930s and focused on an “intense gay romance.”
The Reporter added: “An insider close to production tells THR that the movie’s team is ‘devastated’ and that the amount of money spent on the film was in the low seven figures.”
Fast forward a few days, and it appears that feeling of devastation has given way to a new emotion: “outrage.”
In a follow-up report on Tuesday, The Hollywood Reporter noted that Phoenix’s sudden departure from the project is still reverberating throughout Hollywood.
“There’s been a huge amount of outrage,” one studio executive said, claiming to speak for a cabal of furious Hollywood producers.
Do you think Phoenix could face legal repercussions?
Adding to the gut punch sensation that the people attached to this gay romance film are feeling: Phoenix reportedly pitched this very film to director Todd Haynes, so it was ostensibly his idea.
Given all that, it should come as little surprise that the Reporter itself described Phoenix’s attitude as “reticent” and his reputation “squirmy.”
As to why Phoenix pulled out, it’s not explicitly clear. Citing “multiple sources,” the Reporter claimed, “Phoenix got cold feet in the lead-up to the production.”
Interestingly enough, despite this “huge amount of outrage,” the report also noted that there may not be much recourse Hollywood producers have when it comes to retaliating against Phoenix.
And that’s simply due to the wattage of his star power.
“According to sources, some producers have idly talked about blackballing Phoenix over the Haynes departure, but most acknowledge that’s not realistic, particularly given that Joker 2, out Oct. 4, is expected to be a hit,” the report states.
(The first “Joker” film, which came out in 2019, was a billion-dollar box office hit.)
A different Hollywood agent also thinks that any legal action against Phoenix would be moot due to his wealth.
“As long as they threaten, he’ll settle. It’s nothing to him.”
