Joaquin Phoenix, Gus Van Sant to reunite for famed cartoonist bio

PanARMENIAN.Net - Joaquin Phoenix and director Gus Van Sant are eyeing a reunion on a new film. The two may reteam on “Don’t Worry, He Won’t Get Far on Foot,” the long-in-development biopic on quadriplegic cartoonist John Callahan, Variety reports.

Iconoclast and Anonymous Content are producing the pic, which is based on Callahan’s autobiography of the same name. Callahan became a paralyzed in a car accident at age 21, and turned to drawing as a form of therapy. For decades Callahan’s work raised eyebrows for its taboo topics leading to numerous boycotts in his hometown of Portland.

His work was published in the New Yorker, Penthouse, and Playboy before his death in 2010.

Charles-Marie Anthonioz, Mourad Belkeddar, and Nicolas Lhermitte will produce the movie for Iconoclast, and Steve Golin will produce for Anonymous Content.

Hollywood had been trying to adapt the book since its publication in 1989, with the late Robin Williams circling the role of Callahan for years.

Phoenix and Van Sant have tried to work together for years after the director helped the young thesp break out as a leading man in his 1995 black comedy “To Die For.” The pair has come close to collaborating again over the years, most recently with Van Sant’s “Sea of Trees,” which eventually starred Matthew McConaughey.

Phoenix will also play Jesus in the Weinstein Co.’s “Mary Magdalene.” Both are repped by WME.