‘Joker 2' Pulled From NYFF?

Next month, Todd Phillips’ “Joker: Folie a Deux” will premiere at the Venice Film Festival. It’s not screening anywhere else except, maybe, the New York Film Festival.

I’m being told that ‘Folie a Deux’ was supposed to be included in the Spotlight section at NYFF but has been “put on hold” and is now a question mark. We’ll see if it gets announced soon, but the crux of the matter has to do with star Joaquin Phoenix’s recent controversy.

Last week, Phoenix walked out of Todd Haynes and producer Christine Vachon’s next film as it was starting production. The project has been shut down and will not be happening. Haynes and Vachon are very well liked by NYFF, and it doesn’t surprise me one bit that the film has been pulled out of the lineup.

Another possibility could be that Warner Bros just doesn’t want Phoenix to do any other press beyond Venice. Can you just imagine how insane the ‘Folie a Deux’ press conference is going to be at Venice? I just cringe thinking about it. Phoenix is already an awkward interview, and then adding all of this Haynes/Vachon controversy is a recipe for disaster. As it stands, Venice is the only scheduled event for Phoenix.

At the moment, Vachon and her producing partners are discussing next steps. They might be suing Phoenix for breach of contract, or it all could just end with the actor paying back financiers (and crewmembers). He might have to dish out a check in the seven figures.

Vachon has called the whole situation a “nightmare. Re-casting Phoenix in the lead role is not an option, unless Brad Pitt suddenly becomes available. Given Phoenix’s unique box office appeal, thanks to ‘Joker,’ and his arthouse credentials, it would be all but impossible to recast the actor for a role that calls for “full-frontal and explicit gay sex.”

This has led to what THR has described as a “huge amount of outrage” in Hollywood, with many producers swearing to never work with Phoenix again.