At this point, we all know the drama surrounding Todd Haynes’ unmade film he was developing with Joaquin Phoenix. The two of them were working closely on a new film that was just several days from filming when Phoenix unexpectedly dropped out, leaving the project dead. Money was lost, Phoenix’s name has been tarnished, and Haynes was left with no film to make. And according to one of the filmmaker’s producers, the latter bit is the true tragedy.
Speaking at the San Sebastian Film Festival (via THR), producer Christine Vachon was asked to elaborate more on the Todd Haynes/Joaquin Phoenix drama. While she didn’t give much in the way of new details about the situation, Vachon confirmed what we all know and actually talked about how she is truly sad for Haynes.
“The truth is, pretty much what happened is out there for all of you to see,” Vachon explained. “If I had anything to gossip about it, I would, but I don’t. It was tragic. The most tragic part about it, in my mind, is Todd Haynes is 62. There’s a finite number of films that they’ll be able to do in his lifetime. I consider him one of the most extraordinary film artists of his generation.”
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She added, “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. We, as a cultural community, lost an opportunity to have another movie by Todd Haynes. That is just criminal.”
As “criminal” as it might be, it doesn’t appear that anything truly bad is going to happen to Phoenix’s career as a result of this. It also appears that this is far from the first time Phoenix has had cold feet right before production was about to begin on a project. It just seems like most of the other films were able to accommodate him in a way Haynes was unable to.
Vachon isn’t wrong about the tragedy of the situation. Todd Haynes really only makes great films. And for all his trouble, you can’t deny that Joaquin Phoenix is one of the best actors working today. We all know the eventual film would have likely been absolutely incredible. So, as film fans, we are all saddened by the turn of events.
