‘De Noche’: Pedro Pascal Takes Up Joaquin Phoenix Abandoned Role in Todd Haynes Helmed Romance!!

Over a year after Joaquin Phoenix exited Todd Haynes‘s then-untitled gay romance film, one of his Eddington co-stars may be picking up the mantle to help revive the project. A report by Deadline confirmed that De Noche is picking back up and eyeing a production start date in the New Year in Guadalajara, Mexico, with Pedro Pascal in talks to take on the lead role. Filming is being planned around the actor’s packed schedule, coming off a year in which he appeared in the second season of The Last of Us, Celine Song‘s Materialists, and The Fantastic Four: First Steps. If a deal is finalized, he’ll join Danny Ramirez, who was previously cast to co-star with Phoenix.

The fate of De Noche seemed all but sealed after Phoenix‘s bizarre departure from the film. The Joker Oscar winner had been absent from the set for two weeks before it was finally confirmed that he had left altogether shortly before production began. No reason was given for his sudden decision, but given his creative involvement, it seemed unlikely to continue with anyone else in his place. Phoenix worked directly with Haynes and Jon Raymond to develop the story and was a big proponent of taking the intimate scenes seriously, to the point that it was likely to garner an NC-17 rating. On top of everything, he was a key financial driver for the project and got the project in front of Killer Films, a company known for backing LGBTQ+ films.

With Pascal involved, it’s unknown how or if De Noche has changed, though Killer Films is still involved, with Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler still producing under the banner. The star is already familiar with the production arm, as they also worked on Materialists. Haynes‘s original premise remains mostly the same, at least. Set in the 1930s, his latest will follow two men in a passionate romance who leave Los Angeles together for Mexico. More details of the story are likely to be shared as work gets back underway and the rest of the cast around Pascal and Ramirez begins to fill out.

‘De Noche’ Is the Latest Massive Project for Pascal

Haynes will mark another big-name collaboration for Pascal, having previously earned an Oscar nomination for his original screenplay for Far From Heaven and garnering praise for past films like Dark Waters, The Velvet Underground, and Safe. Although Pascal‘s upcoming slate has cleared a bit, he’s still keeping quite busy beyond De Noche. He’ll reprise his role as Din Djarin on the big screen next year with The Mandalorian and Grogu and is also slated to return as Reed Richards for the MCU‘s next big cinematic crossover event, Avengers: Doomsday. More recently, Pascal was also circling Behemoth!, the latest film from fellow Star Wars alum Tony Gilroy, which is expected to begin principal photography this fall.