Joaquin Phoenix is taking it up one other notch after Ari Aster’s “Beau Is Afraid,” teaming up with Todd Haynes for an NC-17-rated homosexual romance movie.
Haynes spoke to IndieWire on the Cannes Film Festival following the Saturday premiere of his romantic drama “May December,” starring Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore. In the interview, Haynes teased an upcoming venture he co-developed with Phoenix.
“The next film is a feature that’s an original script that I developed with Joaquin Phoenix based on some thoughts and ideas he brought to me,” Haynes informed IndieWire. “We basically wrote with him as a story writer. Me and Jon Raymond and Joaquin share the story credit. And we hope to be shooting it beginning early next year. It’s a gay love story set in 1930s L.A.”
Haynes added, “Joaquin was pushing me further and going, ‘No, let’s go further.’ This will be an NC-17 film.”
Phoenix is not any stranger to intense roles that push previous the anticipated limits of actors. As for Haynes, between “Carol,” “Far From Heavens,” “Poison, “Velvet Goldmine” and his newest, “May December,” the director is not any stranger to the romantic interval drama, nor the queer movie.
“All I can do is just keep hunkering down and committing to each project,” Haynes stated. “I have more features planned. I have also episodic projects coming that are planned, that are really exciting. I’m going back to work with Kate Winslet with something she brought me for HBO.”
Hayne’s newest venture, “May December,” is loosely based mostly on the American scandal of Mary Kay Letourneau. In Variety‘s assessment, movie critic Peter Debruge wrote: “Tone is everything in movies like this, and Haynes goes out of his way to avoid the sensationalism… Withholding moral judgment as best he can, Haynes keeps things more emotional than intellectual, trusting audiences to do that unpacking on their own.”