Todd Haynes has revealed that his next gay love story, starring Joaquin Phoenix, will be an NC-17 rated movie.

When attending the Cannes Film Festival to support his romantic film May decemberplayed by Natalie Portman and Julianne Moore, the director revealed that he has a lot of projects in the works.

“I have planned for more features. I also have episodic projects planned, which is really exciting. I’m going back to work with Kate Winslet with something she brought me for HBO,” said Haynes IndieWire.

He went on to discuss his next feature film, which is “the original script I developed with Joaquin Phoenix based on some of the thoughts and ideas he brought to me”.

“We basically wrote with him as a story writer. Me and Jon Raymond and Joaquin share story credits. And we hope to shoot it early next year. It’s a gay love story set in 1930s LA,” Haynes said.

Haynes has promised that their film will have an adult theme.

“This is going to be an NC-17 movie,” he said. “Joaquin pushed me further and said, ‘No, let’s go further.’”

NC-17 is the highest rating given to a film by the Motion Picture Association of America, which restricts any person under the age of 17 from viewing the film in a movie theater.

It is awarded to films that the MPA believes most parents would consider “apparently adult” and not suitable for minors under the age of 18.

Haynes is an openly gay director known for exploring LGBTQ+ themes in several of his films, including caro, toxic And Velvet gold mine.

His strange love in 2015 caro, starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as two women who develop romantic feelings that resonated with audiences and critics alike. The film earned six Academy Award nominations, including a Best Actress nomination for Blanchett. The award went to Brie Larson for her performance in the 2015 film Room.