Details Emerge On Joaquin Phoenix’s New Film With ‘Beginners’ Director Mike Mills

The idea of Beginners and 20th Century Women director Mike Mills teaming up with Oscar winner Joaquin Phoenix was enough to make their mysterious film a hot topic of discussion. What could these two possibly be collaborating on? Will it arrive in time for the 2020 awards season? Details have been virtually nonexistent, but now Deadline has some intriguing new details as A24 goes on the hunt for worldwide distribution. Something tells me they won’t have any difficulty.

According to the trade, shooting is now wrapped, and the film is indeed being shopped around in hopes that it’ll be released later this year in time for awards season. While this still sounds pretty vague, the plot reportedly finds Phoenix as “an artist left to take care of his precocious young nephew as they forge an unexpected bond over a cross country trip.” There will also be some kind of CGI component as Peter Jackson’s WETA Digital is involved, too.

Joining Phoenix in the cast are Gaby Hoffman, Woody Norman, and Kenneth Kynt Bryan, with a budget around the $10M range. But the hook is going to be Phoenix, who is coming off a career-best performance in Joker that has everyone eager to see what he does next. Could he be in line for another trip onto the Oscars stage?