For “Joker” star Joaquin Phoenix, this is no laughing matter.

The actor reportedly abruptly departed a gay romance film he was set to star in five days before production was set to begin, leaving many frustrated and owed compensation, IndieWire first reported.

The untitled film was described as an “intense” gay detective love story featuring two men in the 1930s.

It was written to receive an NC-17 rating, as Phoenix and director Todd Haynes, whose work includes movies like “Carol” and “May December,” wanted its gay sex scenes to be as graphic as possible.

Sets were already built for the film’s planned shoot in Mexico.

Since Phoenix developed the screenplay for the film and brought the idea to Haynes, reasons for his swift exit are unclear.

“The whole experience was prompted by Joaquin,” Haynes said of the film in a 2023 interview. “It was prompted by his daring, his desire to push through barriers and to really get into the uncomfortable places about this relationship. And yet it felt like a very organic process.”

Phoenix has allegedly been known to be flaky in the past before production on other films. Two sources told The Hollywood Reporter that he threatened to leave Ridley Scott’s “Napoleon,” which was released last November, unless filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson was brought on to do rewrites.

The untitled gay romance film was reportedly already sold to international distributors ahead of production, hinging on Phoenix’s casting. He won’t be recast, and the project was killed.

Due to the work completed and distribution deals that were sorted out ahead of time, Phoenix’s actions left many stakeholders and crew members owed compensation. The amount of money spent on the film was believed by one source to be in the low seven figures.

Some insiders believe he will face legal action, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Christine Vachon, a producer attached to the film, called the situation a “nightmare” on social media in a since-deleted Facebook post.

Despite the controversy, one Hollywood agent told The Hollywood Reporter that Phoenix won’t face a significant career setback, and the legal threats are “nothing to him” since he’ll be able to settle any disputes.

Photo credit: Actor Joaquin Phoenix at the 68th Berlin International Film Festival 2018. Credit: Harald Krichel, Wikimedia Commons.