James McAvoy has revealed that Joaquin Phoenix was supposed to star in M. Night Shyamalan’s “Split,” but suddenly left the project just two weeks before production was set to begin (via Happy Sad Confused podcast)
“I think he ditched it two weeks before the shooting. It was really last minute…”
“Split” would have been a very different film without McAvoy. The film ended up being Shyamalan’s comeback vehicle, earning almost $300M worldwide off a $9M budget. McAvoy was absolutely brilliant in the film.
I’m loving all of these Phoenix stories that keep popping up. I’m sure there’s a lot more to come. We learned recently that, before completely exiting Todd Haynes’ 1930s gay romance, Phoenix also got cold feet on “Napoleon,” “Joker,” and “C’mon, C’mon.”
Eight years ago, Ehrenreich, who was seen by many as a rising star, was blamed in some circles for “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” which led to a five-year break from acting. He is now back, and with a vengeance.