Todd Haynes is preparing his next film, which he describes as “a gay love story set in 1930s Los Angeles”. And it looks like he found the right co-writer in Joaquin Phoenixwhich, according to Haynes, caused him to “go further” with the script so that he ended up with an NC-17 rating.

“The next movie is a feature film which is an original script that I developed with Joaquin Phoenix based on some thoughts and ideas that he brought to me,” Haynes said. IndieWire recently in Cannes. “We basically wrote with him as a screenwriter. Me and Jon Raymond and Joaquin share story credit. And we hope to shoot it early next year.

“Joaquin was pushing me further and saying ‘no, let’s go further,'” Haynes added. “It will be an NC-17 movie.”

Haynes is currently in Cannes to promote may december, his next film with Natalie Portman and Juliane Moore. After its premiere, Netflix finalized a deal to buy distribution rights for release later this year. Until then, we can revisit some of the filmmaker’s modern queer classics like Velvet Goldmine, Poison, And Carol — and if those are its core values, then whatever Phoenix has in mind is sure to be unforgettable.

In 2021, Haynes shared The Velvet Underground, a documentary on the eponymous group. Phoenix recently appeared in Ari Aster’s absurd horror comedy Handsome is scared, and will then reprise his role as Joker in Todd Phillips Joker: Madness for two against Lady Gaga.