Right on cue. Joaquin Phoenix makes a splash with his documentary/ elaborate hoax, “I’m Still Here,” and bam, the trades get wind of several projects the actor has been circling (though the doc is a year old and why anyone thinks JP is still pursuing a hip-hop career is beyond us).
Quelle coincidence? However one must note, almost every project Phoenix was interested and or had agreed to enter discussions with has fallen apart. The most intriguing, at least to us, was the idea of Joaquin joining David Gordon Green’s “The Sitter” as a drug dealer in pursuit of Jonah Hill, who has accidentally lost his bag of cocaine, thanks to the devilish kids he’s forced to babysit. Vanquish the thought. While hilarity would have surely ensued — especially with the prospect of Phoenix playing it straight — it’s not happening for reasons that are unclear. Casting is quickly ramping up on that one though as Ari Graynor just joined the cast recently.
Next was a possible team up with Sean Penn in the picture, “Genius“; Phoenix was entertaining the idea of playing the then-young famous novelist Thomas Wolfe to Penn’s legendary literary editor role Max Perkins. The role for Phoenix would likely have been an Oscar contender, and it smells like acting fireworks to us, but it didn’t happen.
Another potentially incredible prospect also fell through. Before John Cusack took the role of Edgar Allan Poe in James McTeigue’s “The Raven,” the once- aspiring rapper/musician was circling the part with Jeremy Renner as the detective on his trail. Renner left for “Mission Impossible 4” (Jeremy, really?), and then Phoenix lost interest. Of all the aforementioned parts, apparently “The Raven” was the closest one to becoming a reality so we can thank Renner’s tentpole proclivities/curiosity for that one.
The project Phoenix is attached to is a tenuous one with no financing, called “Big Shoe,” where the returning actor will play a shoe fetishist who also is an amazing footwear designer (no side role for notorious foot man, Tarantino?). We’re hoping this one is a comedy as we feel that’s what Phoenix needs (“I’m Still Here,” aside), but again with no funding it may not even happen (it’s actually described as “out there” with comedic and dramatic elements). Oh yeah, and finally, there’s a Joaquin Phoenix imposter going around at TIFF claiming he is the real Phoenix (pictures look like a brutally bad joke, probably played by Canadians). Also? This imposter has a publicist. Guys, give this stupid shit a rest (while it sounds like part of the Casey Affleck-directed prank, we’re willing to believe it’s some other jackass trying to ride this thing’s buzz-coattails). [THR/image HeyYouGuys]
