There isn’t an actor on the planet right now that has the same sort of buzz that Joaquin Phoenix does. The star of “Joker” is coming off a massively successful festival run for his comic book film, directed by Todd Phillips, and according to many pundits, is the likely favorite to walk away with just about every Best Actor trophy given in the months to come. So, by proxy, all this makes director Mike Mills a very lucky man.
According to Deadline, Mills is on the verge of a deal with A24 to finance and distribute his next as-yet-untitled film, with Joaquin Phoenix attached to star. This will mark the first post-“Joker” role for the actor, and will almost certainly mean that Mills’ newest film will have a higher profile than anything he’s previously worked on before.
While there are no plot details for the upcoming film, just the names of Phoenix and Mills is enough to get us excited. Mills is probably best known for his recent films, “Beginners” and “20th Century Women.” “Beginners” is arguably the filmmaker’s best work to date, and scored actor Christopher Plummer an Oscar for his supporting performance. “20th Century Women” earned Mills even more Oscar love, landing him his first nomination for Best Screenplay.
READ MORE: Todd Phillips’s ‘Joker’ Takes Home The Golden Lion At The 2019 Venice Film Festival
Phoenix is also one of the most critically-acclaimed talents working in film today. In addition to “Joker,” which seemingly is putting him in a whole different stratosphere of praise, the actor is probably best known for his work in films like “Her,” “Walk the Line,” “The Master,” and “Gladiator.” The latter three of which all earned him Oscar nominations. Recently, Phoenix has shown up in films such as “You Were Never Really Here,” “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” and “The Sisters Brothers.”
There’s no word on the release date for Mills latest, but filming is set to begin this fall. It wouldn’t be crazy to assume that the A24 release will be ready to go in time for next year’s awards race.
