Joaquin Phoenix isn't known for his paycheck roles. The actor's notoriously selective when it comes to the features occupying his talents, especially these past few years. Not just anyone can court the actor into their film (he even turned out Marvel, DC and Star Wars Episode VIII, despite flirting with the possibilities of all three). When it comes to reuniting with those he's worked with before, however, he's quick to change his tune.
The performer recently went back-to-back with Paul Thomas Anderson for The Master and last year's Inherent Vice, respectively, and now Phoenix may return to work with his Signs/The Village writer/director M. Night Shyamalan. He's currently in talks to star in his next feature, an undisclosed project which begins filming this November in (of course) Philadelphia.
Deadline unwrapped the developments. Not only is Shyamalan partnering up with Phoenix again, he's re-teaming with Jason Blum, the producer behind the filmmaker's latest, next month's found-footage thriller The Visit. Like Blum/Shyamalan's forthcoming chiller, they're skewing closer to the indie route here, keeping the budget low and the title and logline hush-hush. This veil of secrecy, similar to the one Woody Allen disposed in last month's Irrational Man, may possibly have influenced Phoenix's decision-making.
With Fox's Wayward Pines providing the After Earth director his first moderate success in ages, perhaps we're about to witness Shyamalan's comeback. The Visit's September 11 release will give a better indication, but Phoenix's attachment isn't a bad start at all. Granted, it didn't provide Allen may favors, but everyone entitled to a miss now-and-then. Well, expect the guy who made The Last Airbender.
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