A trans lesbian film geek's guide to Joaquin Phoenix dropping out of the ultra-gay Todd Haynes western

Todd Haynes is one of the best American filmmakers working right now. There's no question about it. Safe, I'm Not There, Far From Heaven, May/December, Velvet Goldmine, Carol (!!!!!!!), the man's a master of his craft. Among the endless virtues of his works is the infectious passion Haynes clearly has for every corner of cinematic storytelling. To gaze into this man's filmography is to gaze into cinema's past. Velvet Goldmine mimics Citizen Kane's plot structure. I'm Not There and Poison evoke countless different eras of filmmaking in their disparate segments. Dark Waters is an Alan J. Pakula pastiche. Wonderstruck has flashback sequences rooted in the visual language of silent cinema.

Haynes loves movies of every shape and size and that informs the excitingly varied influences permeating his works. Best of all, his affection for the past doesn't just result in hollow recreations of the familiar. That's what separates Velvet Goldmine from something like Ghostbusters: Afterlife. Haynes takes his influences and crafts them into something new. This includes emphasizing morally complicated characters and marginalized perspectives that couldn't have existed in Hays Code era cinema. These are not just productions relying on nostalgia to carry the day. Todd Haynes movies build outstanding new filmmaking accomplishments on vintage masterpieces.

Haynes was all set to make his next motion picture an untitled NC-17 Western starring Joaquin Phoenix and Danny Ramirez. Previously, Haynes had divulged that Phoenix approached him about the project, which would've featured lots of graphic sex scenes and been set in Mexica. As of today, though, this Western is joining the Michelle William Peggy Lee movie as a Todd Haynes feature we'll never see. IndieWire reports that this production has fallen apart thanks to Phoenix abruptly walking away from this feature just five days before shooting was set to begin. Phoenix was already in Guadalajara ready to start shooting, making his abandonemnt of the movie all the more puzzling.

IndieWire reports that production company Killer Films is not seeking out replacements for Phoenix in the lead role, partially because financing for the feature hinged heavily on securing the Joker leading man. Haynes is now shifting gears to an HBO miniseries entitled Trust, which will reunite him Kate Winslet, the star of his last HBO program. At this juncture, there is no impending salvation for this production. Meanwhile, investors in the film need to get their money back. IndieWire also claims Haynes had assembled a crew to work in Mexico on the film, meaning those below-the-line workers are also devastated by this development.

A lead actor leaving a movie just days before filming is incredibly rare. Usually, larger production calamities or filming delays lead to performers leaving a feature, like Mick Jagger exiting Fitzcarraldo or various Jane Got a Gun actors leaving that production. Even those were supporting performers, though, not the leading man. Save for Eric Stoltz in the first Back to the Future, a lead actor dropping out of a project is unprecedented. It's extra bizarre given that Phoenix was the one who proposed the project to Haynes in the first place!

There's surely a bigger story going on here that will emerge in the coming days and weeks. Maybe this project fell apart over something as mundane as Phoenix not liking the script anymore or having other movie commitments he had to attend to. Perhaps there was massive drama between Haynes and Phoenix that resulted in the production. Heck, maybe Phoenix stumbled onto the Ira Sachs film Passages, got nervous he could never top (no pun intended) those sex scenes, and vamoosed. Anything's possible right now. What is clear, though, is that this is a devastating development and an unfortunate continuation of Haynes movies getting no respect in Hollywood. It also means, for Phoenix, that he'll have now worked with the director of Starsky & Hutch twice but never collaborated with Todd Haynes.

Haynes has been open in the past that it's difficult to get independent financing for his projects, which could never survive in the major studio system. Big studios like Disney and Warner Bros. panic if a mainstream movie has two men holding hands. There's no way David Zaslav or Sony Pictures Entertainment CEO Tony Vinciquerra could comprehend Carol without their heads exploding. This means Haynes must seek out alternative forms of financing for his productions, a process that's often torturous. "I’m used to always having struggles getting finances together and keeping precarious budgets alive in the independent film world," Haynes said to Deadline in 2011. Heck, his very first film, Poison, garnered controversy because a National Endowment for the Public Arts Grant partially financed it. "The headline read: 'Gay Film Wins Prize at Sundance Film Festival Paid For by Your Tax Dollars.'" Haynes recalled decades later.

With independent financing often comes more creative freedom, but it can also leave projects in a precarious spot. Everything in arthouse cinema is so delicately held together (financing, locations, crew hirings, etc.) that it can all fall apart in the blink of an eye. That's how a project like this untitled Western can fall apart just days before principal photography begins. Lord knows how Haynes must feel right now, though my heart especially aches for Danny Ramirez right now. Getting the lead role in a Haynes movie was a huge get for this man. He would've been following in the footsteps of actors like Christian Bale, Julianne Moore, Cate Blanchett, Mark Ruffalo, and Natalie Portman. What an esteemed legacy to join! Alas, this movie has fallen apart and deprived Ramirez of a high-profile role.

Still, even with this devastating development, Todd Haynes marches on. In that The-Talks interview, Haynes notes that "obstacles and challenges" propelled him into feature-length directing in the first place. Hardships are nothing new to this iconic and essential filmmaker. With one Joaquin Phoenix Western door closing, another will surely open soon for him. Heck, Haynes openly said last year he'd be interested in returning to that Michelle Williams Peggy Lee biopic (titled Fever) should the opportunity arise. Maybe we'll get to see that movie after all! Even with this deeply disappointing news, it's hard not to get excited about the future when dealing with a filmmaker as gifted and dedicated to cinema as Todd Haynes.