Joaquin Phoenix memories of THE VILLAGE were apparently not enough to keep him aboard the latest Shyamalan jam.
James McAvoy is replacing Phoenix on whatever Shyamalan’s cooking up with Jason Blum as a follow-up to the successful THE VISIT.
While it seems like something of a downgrade on the surface level (McAvoy, after all, hasn’t exhibited quite the range of the bizarre, one-time-rapper Phoenix), McAvoy has done quite enough interesting work over the past half-decade or so to make him a dope pick for the lead of this one. Aside from near-headlining one of the biggest superhero franchises around, he’s also been showing a darker side in stuff like TRANCE and FILTH, and will be going full-on crazy in the upcoming VICTOR FRANKENSTEIN. His typically unassuming persona would be perfect if, let’s say, Shyamalan threw in a twist where the unassuming lead turned out to be the killer/psycho/ghost or whatever. But since when has he pulled any bullshit like that?
Phoenix did little to spice up the dreary VILLAGE (unlike the bonkers Adrien Brody character), so I’m not lamenting this loss too much, and it’s great to see McAvoy hopping from vastly different projects and shedding whatever preconceived notions we had of “his type of role.” Of course, if he turns out to be playing a faun/mutant/Fremin/assassin in this one, then I suppose it won’t be all that much of a stretch.
