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New details about Joaquin Phoenix's NC-17 disaster in the gay love story suggest that the “Joker” star is in for more trouble

Joaquin Phoenix
Joaquin Phoenix (Photo: Shutterstock)

Queer film fans are still mad at Joaquin Phoenix for getting cold feet while filming a gay romance with NC-17 residents in which he was supposed to play the lead role and reportedly dropping out five days before filming began, leaving acclaimed filmmaker Todd Haynes and his crew in the dust.

“It was a nightmare,” Haynes' producing partner Christine Vachon said of the debacle.

Not only was Phoenix set to play one of the lead roles – alongside rising star Danny Ramirez – but the untitled film was also based on his ideatells the story of two men in 1930s Los Angeles who fall in love and have to flee to Mexico.

His sudden and unexpected departure left the production with few options, and a new story of The Hollywood Reporter Haynes and his team have considered several “last-minute attempts” to save the production. Could anyone with enough blockbusters replace Phoenix on such short notice?

The article suggests Pedro Pascal as a tempting sub, but his busy schedule (including Marvel's new version of Fantastic Four And The Mandalorian film), means it was never that likely. Not to mention that the film was touted as an interracial romance, so an unnamed talent rep tells THR“Having two Latinos in the roles doesn’t make much sense” – although we certainly would have liked to see that!

Haynes' gay love story seemed doomed, and industry attention is now turning to how it could harm Phoenix's career in the future.

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Per THRThe Oscar-winning actor is known for hesitating on projects and threatening to drop out at the last minute, referencing the 2019 antihero origin story The Jokerthe sweet indie of 2021 Come on, come onand the historical epic of 2023 Napoleon as well as films in which Phoenix was also said to have almost gotten lost before he “settled down”.

Of course, he did not stay in this case, and his hasty decision left part of Haynes' film crew – who had already done considerable preparatory work for the film – unpaid and unemployed, which does not reflect well on the A-list celebrity.

It has also been suggested that the film's producers may sue Phoenix to cover lost costs, which “could run into the millions of dollars.” But it's unlikely that such a lawsuit would persuade him to return, especially considering that money shouldn't be a big issue after he reportedly received $25 million for the film in the fall. Joker: Foil for Two.

Speaking of which, this whole saga is increasingly becoming a problem for the blockbuster sequel starring Lady Gaga…

What the Joaquin Phoenix controversy means for Joker: Slide for two

Rumor has it Slide for two The production somehow cost over $200 million, which is quite shocking when you compare it to the $60 million budget for The Joker. And of course, the 2019 film grossed over a billion dollars worldwide, but as a source of entertainment news slash points out that this case feels much riskier, as there are already precedents for superhero sequels that “get unnecessarily expensive and then crash and sink.”

It is, after all, a musical, and that genre is much less likely to succeed at the global box office. And while most gay people would jump at the chance to see Gaga on screen, will they be less inclined to support the film now that Phoenix has ghosted Todd Haynes, one of our community's favorite filmmakers?

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In a new diversity Cover story, Slide for two Director Todd Phillips denies the rumors of a bloated budget, but doesn't directly refute them. He defends the high production costs as an almost Robin Hood-like effort to pay a major Hollywood studio to “hire a bunch of crew members who can then support their families.”

Okay, but isn’t it logical that the enormous amounts of money spent on one Could the exorbitantly expensive film have been used instead to make several smaller films and thus pay even more crew members?

Especially at a time when studios are cutting corners on small and medium budget projects just to finance hypothetical blockbusters (*Cough* Disney pays $80 million for Robert Downey Jr.'s return to the Marvel Cinematic Universe *Cough*), it doesn't look good.

And it's not hard to see how this directly impacts stories told by and for minority audiences, including the LGBTQ+ community. joker the paycheck alone could finance a gay romance – or two!

But we digress…

At the moment it remains to be seen how much advertising the notoriously press-shy Phoenix will do for Slide for twoespecially in light of the controversy surrounding the Todd Haynes film. The actor has quoted some of the above-mentioned diversity Cover story, but author Brent Lang notes that the interview was conducted via email before He simply dropped the gay love story.

The joker The sequel is set to have its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival in a few weeks, and it would be quite strange if Phoenix wasn't there, because if that were the case, we can't imagine a world in which the topic of cold feet wouldn't be addressed.

Whether he addresses it and apologizes will probably The dominant topic of conversation of the Slide for two Press tour – and this is what a much And to think that the notorious yapper Lady Gaga (we say that lovingly) is also in the mix. You can be sure that we will be following this closely!

Joker: Foil for Two will be in theaters everywhere on October 4th.

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