Todd Haynes producer addresses 'tragedy' of Joaquin Phoenix film exit (original) (raw)

Christine Vachon, a longtime producer of the films of Todd Haynes, is opening up about last month's shocking report that Joaquin Phoenix had suddenly exited the newest Haynes project five days before shooting was set to commence.

"It was tragic in a lot of ways," Vachon told the crowd during her Fireside Talk at the 2024 San Sebastian Film Festival Creative Investor's Conference on Sept. 24. "The most tragic part about it is that Todd Haynes is 62. He’s not old, right? But there is a finite number of films that he’ll be able to do in his lifetime."

She continued that she considers Haynes, the director of critically-acclaimed films like May December and Carol,as "one of the most extraordinary film artists of his generation, and the idea that his 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. 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.”

A rep for Vachon's Killer Films declined Entertainment Weekly's request for comment. Reps for Haynes and Phoenix didn't immediately respond.

Todd Haynes, Christine Vachon, Joaquin Phoenix.

Kevin Winter/GA/The Hollywood Reporter via Getty; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty; Rocco Spaziani/Archivio Spaziani/Mondadori Portfolio via Getty

The details of what pre-empted Phoenix's sudden exit and how the news was relayed to Haynes and Vachon are still unclear. Haynes described the film in 2023 as a "love story between two men set in the ’30s that has explicit sexual content" that follows one "Native American character and one is a corrupt cop in LA... they have to flee L.A. ultimately and go to Mexico."

Vachon clarified in a now-deleted Facebook post the day after the Phoenix news broke that "a version of this did happen," and "it has been a nightmare." She begged those without the inside view to "PLEASE — if you are tempted to finger wag or admonish us that ‘that’s what you get for casting a straight actor’ — DON’T." To clarify, Vachon noted that “this was HIS project," that is, Phoenix's, "that he brought to US – and Killer’s record on working with LGBTQ actors/crew/directors speaks for itself. (and for those of you who HAVE — know that you are making a terrible situation even worse).”

Phoenix's close involvement in the production of the film — he also co-wrote the screenplay with Jon Raymond, a frequent collaborator of Haynes' longtime friend Kelly Reichardt — made his exit particularly challenging. The film was already backed by sales agent MK2 Films and had sold to multiple international markets.

An August Variety report indicated that the film's sales hinged on Phoenix's casting, and that his role reportedly could not be recast. The full crew that had been hired was suddenly out of work, stakeholders were expecting to be paid, and losses could balloon upward of seven figures.

Todd Haynes and Christine Vachon.

Dave Kotinsky/Getty

Haynes said in May 2023 that "Joaquin was pushing me further and going, 'No, let’s go further,'" promising, "this will be an NC-17 film." Haynes explained that "the whole experience was prompted by Joaquin. It was prompted by his daring, his desire to push through barriers and to really get into the uncomfortable places about this relationship."

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At a Sept. 4 press conference for Joker: Folie à Deux at the Venice Film Festival, Phoenix side-stepped a question about the scrapped Haynes film. "I think, if I do" comment on the situation, Phoenix said, he'd "just be sharing my opinion from my perspective and the other creatives aren't here to say their piece, and I just don't feel like that would be right. I'm not sure how that would be helpful. So, I just I don't think I will."

Vachon was set to produce the film through her Killer Films banner alongside Pamela Koffler. Vachon has been Haynes' primary producing partner since his feature debut, 1991's Poison. Last year saw not just the Vachon-Haynes project May December honored at the Academy Awards, but another Killer Films project, Celine Song's Past Lives, earn a Best Picture nomination.

But Vachon confessed in San Sebastian the Phoenix debacle has shaken her confidence in the independent film production and financing process: “When something like that happens, it sends a shockwave through the industry. If a company like Killer, a star like Joaquin, a filmmaker like Todd, if that fell at the finish line, then how do we take a risk on the first-time filmmaker or the actor who’s still up and coming?”

Joaquin Phoenix in 'Joker'. DC Comics/Warner Bros./Shutterstock

Vachon noted that "there’s a big question mark above [Haynes'] head,” as to how to proceed after this film, years in the making, suddenly evaporated.

Killer Films is looking forward to the release of two of the fall season's buzziest titles, the Sebastian Stan-starring A Different Man, and The Brutalist, the new film from Brady Corbet. Haynes, meanwhile, may have his next step sorted out after all, with reports that he'll reunite with Mildred Pierce star Kate Winslet for a series adaptation of Hernan Diaz's Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Trust.