Director Todd Haynes’ next film will be a sexually explicit gay thriller starring Joaquin Phoenix

Oscar nominated director Todd Haynes (Far from paradise, Carol) is out in the press giving interviews for his next Oscar-winning film, May Decemberand during the promotion, Haynes also talks about the film he is currently working on with the Oscar-winning actor Joaquin Phoenix (Walk the line, Joker).

In an interview with Variety, Haynes described the film, saying:

“It’s a love story between two men set in the 1930s that has explicit sexual content that or at least challenges you with the sexual relationship between these two men. One is a Native American character and the other is a corrupt Los Angeles cop. It’s set in the 1930s. Eventually they have to escape Los Angeles and go to Mexico. But it is a love story and with a strong sexual component. And the amazing thing is that it all started with Joaquin having some ideas, some thoughts and just questions and images. And he came to me and said, ‘Does this connect you in any way?’ And I thought, “Yeah, that’s really interesting.” And so we were just on the phone talking and it all developed into a script.

He went on to talk about Phoenix’s involvement in developing the story, saying:

“He had snippets of ideas and then I started formulating them into a real narrative. And then I brought my wonderful, brilliant friend John Raymond, who I collaborated with on ‘Mildred Pierce,’ into the process. It was basically just this wonderful, organic way of creating the script. And Joaquin was pushing him further into more dangerous territory, sexually.

Haynes says they haven’t found the actor who will play opposite Phoenix yet, but said, “It’ll probably be a discovery.” The film is still in the early stages of writing and development, but Haynes also said that they will keep the project low budget so they can maintain creative control over the direction of the story. We will keep you updated as the project progresses.