Todd Haynes returned to the festival stage with December in May, his Cannes hit starring former teacher Julianne Moore, who is forced to reckon with renewed interest in her scandalous relationship with a former student. Critics have called the dark comedy one of the funniest films of Haynes’ career, and many believe it could be an Oscar contender.
Amid all the hype, the Carol director is already plotting his next strange-period novel. Haynes previously teased that he was developing a new project with Joaquin Phoenix, which he envisioned as an NC-17 period piece set in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Speaking to IndieWire on the red carpet for May December’s US premiere at the New York Film Festival, Haynes shared an update on the film.
“It’s still in the formative stages,” Haynes said when asked about the project. “We have a script. I’m very happy with how everything turned out right after filming May-December and before the strike. But this whole experience was suggested by Joaquin. It was driven by his courage, his desire to break barriers and really get into uncomfortable places in this relationship. And yet it felt like a very organic process.”
Haynes said the untitled film hopes to shoot in Mexico once Phoenix becomes available, explaining that the story involves Phoenix’s character and his lover fleeing to Mexico.
“I want to get back to working with as many of the people I worked with on May-December as possible,” he said when asked about potential production plans. “We hope to set up production in Mexico. The two men flee to Mexico. The story takes place in 1937-38 Los Angeles, but they flee to Mexico. And I think there’s a lot of intelligence leading us there, and it would be an amazing experience. Because of the strike, the projects that Joaquin had promised were, of course, postponed. So, as always, it’s about dancing around availability and scheduling.”