Reel Facts & Opinions: The Saga of the Phoenix

Oscar winning actor Joaquin Phoenix made headlines in Hollywood last week, for all the wrong reasons. Phoenix, who won his Academy Award for Best Actor for JOKER in 2019, abruptly and unexpectedly walked off the production of his next movie. The detective-noir film, directed by Todd Haynes (CAROL, MAY DECEMBER), was just five days away from starting filming when Phoenix exited. No reasons for his departure have been given, but as a result the film has been scrapped. 

 

The incident had immediate shockwaves that still haven’t settled. Crew members who have already put a lot of work into the project still have to be paid, and the production company (Killer Films) is already on the hook for the money…banked on a movie that won’t have a chance to earn. But in the long term, this could affect Phoenix. Buzz around town is that he may be un-insurable for future films, and that the members of the Academy just may snub him come Oscar season…in a season where Phoenix has a chance to make history. 

 

Phoenix won his Oscar for playing The Joker in JOKER, and this year he will be reprising the character in JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX. If he should be nominated, he would be joining an elite, yet small group of actors who have accomplished the same feat: Sylvester Stallone for playing Rocky Balboa in ROCKY (1976), and CREED (2015), Paul Newman for playing “Fast Eddie” Nelson in THE HUSTLER (1961), and THE COLOR OF MONEY (1986), Cate Blanchett for playing Queen Elizabeth I in ELIZABETH (1998), and ELIZABETH: THE GOLDEN AGE (2007), Al Pacino for Michael Corleone in THE GODFATHER (1972), and THE GODFATHER PART II (1974), Peter O’Toole for King Henry in BECKET (1964), and THE LION IN WINTER (1968), and Bing Crosby for Father O’Malley in GOING MY WAY (1944), and THE BELLS OF ST. MARY’S (1945). 

 

Of that prestigious group, none won both of their nominations. With the JOKER sequel already gaining huge buzz, Phoenix could very well join this group and be the first to win for playing the same character twice. All this depends on how pissed off Hollywood stays at him. Hollywood is a small town, and sometimes they can have long memories. There have been plenty of actors and filmmakers who have been snubbed or even blacklisted over the years for their behavior, but there have also been instances where their memories are very short (self-exiled director Roman Polanski getting a Best Director win in 2002 for THE PIANIST). Phoenix could have had some very legit reasons for exiting the film, but in doing so he left a lot of money hanging out there. In a year where studios are struggling because of a light box office, messing with industry money is no joke. 

 

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JOKER: FOLIE A DEUX will be released October 4^th. 

The Oscar nominations will be announced January 17, 2025.