Editing River Phoenix (section)

===Unreleased and unfilmed projects===
Phoenix's sudden death prevented him from playing various roles:
*Phoenix was due to begin work on [[Neil Jordan]]'s ''[[Interview with the Vampire (film)|Interview with the Vampire]]'' (1994) two weeks after his death.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.nola.com/entertainment_life/movies_tv/article_d2d2ee99-8e86-512d-999f-97e7e8955478.html |title=Brad Pitt says 'Interview with the Vampire' was a 'miserable' experience |date=September 24, 2011 |access-date=April 19, 2022 |newspaper=[[The Times-Picayune]] |last=Scott |first=Mike}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=See the Cast of 'Interview with the Vampire' Then and Now |url=http://screencrush.com/interview-with-the-vampire-then-and-now/ |last=Hayes |first=Britt |date=January 12, 2014 |access-date=August 1, 2018 |work=[[ScreenCrush]]}}</ref> He was to play the part of [[Daniel Molloy]], the interviewer, which then went to [[Christian Slater]],<ref name=autogenerated1>{{cite news|first=Ryan |last=Gilbey |url=https://www.theguardian.com/film/2003/oct/24/1 |title=Ryan Gilbey on the legacy of River Phoenix|newspaper=The Guardian |date= November 5, 2003|access-date=December 16, 2011 |location=London}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Chan |first=Vera H-C |date=September 15, 2011 |title=The Misery of Brad Pitt |url=https://movies.yahoo.com/blogs/movie-talk/misery-brad-pitt-235500314.html |access-date=December 16, 2011 |publisher=Yahoo! Movies}}</ref> who donated his entire $250,000 salary to two of Phoenix's favorite charitable organizations: Earth Save and Earth Trust.<ref>{{Cite web |date=November 18, 1993 |title=Christian Slater |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=Sb4fAAAAIBAJ&sjid=QdgEAAAAIBAJ&pg=4230,2278705&dq=christian+slater+river+phoenix+salary&hl=en |access-date=2025-02-11 |publisher=[[Gadsden Times]] |via=news.google.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.contactmusic.com/news-article/slaters-mother-makes-emotional-appeal-to-press |title=Christian Slater – Slater's Mother Makes Emotional Appeal To Press |magazine=Contact Music |access-date=November 18, 2011}}</ref><ref name="Lloyd Grove">{{cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/archives/gossip/plea-christian-charity-article-1.649224 |title=Plea For Christian Charity |last=Grove, Lloyd |website=[[New York Daily News]] |date=December 1999 | access-date = February 7, 2015}}</ref> The film has a dedication to Phoenix after the end credits.
*''[[The Guardian]]'' suggested in 2003 "it was likely that Phoenix would have followed ''Interview with the Vampire'' by appearing as [[Susan Sarandon]]'s son in ''[[Safe Passage (film)|Safe Passage]]'' (1994), a role that went to [[Sean Astin]].<ref name=autogenerated1/> 
* Phoenix had signed onto the lead role in ''Broken Dreams'', a screenplay written by [[John Boorman]] and [[Neil Jordan]] (to be directed by Boorman), and co-starring [[Winona Ryder]]. The film was put on hold due to Phoenix's death. In June 2012, it was announced that [[Caleb Landry Jones]] had been cast in the role.<ref>{{cite web |date=June 22, 2012 |title=Caleb Landry Jones Leading John Boorman's Resurrected 'Broken Dream'; John Hurt Takes Supporting Role |url=http://thefilmstage.com/news/caleb-landry-jones-starring-in-john-boormans-resurrected-broken-dream-john-hurt-takes-supporting-role/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190415011252/https://thefilmstage.com/news/caleb-landry-jones-starring-in-john-boormans-resurrected-broken-dream-john-hurt-takes-supporting-role/ |archive-date=April 15, 2019 |access-date=July 3, 2012 |website=thefilmstage.com}}</ref>
* [[Gus Van Sant]] had persuaded Phoenix to agree to play the role of [[Cleve Jones]] in ''[[Milk (2008 American film)|Milk]]'' when he was originally planning on making the movie in the early 1990s.<ref name=InterviewJF/> The role was eventually played by [[Emile Hirsch]] in 2008.
* When Gus Van Sant was asked in ''[[Interview (magazine)|Interview]]'' magazine, "You were going to do a movie with River about [[Andy Warhol]], right?", he said, "Yeah. River kind of looked like Andy in his younger days. But that project never really went forward."<ref name="InterviewJF">{{cite magazine |date=<!-- line version undated --> |title=James Franco |url=http://www.interviewmagazine.com/topshop/james-franco-1/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100822034750/http://www.interviewmagazine.com/topshop/james-franco-1/ |archive-date=August 22, 2010 |access-date=December 13, 2022 |magazine=Interview Magazine}} Only first of four pages archived; ''Milk'' comment appears on non-archived page.</ref>
*In 1988, Phoenix was reportedly carrying around a copy of the memoir ''[[The Basketball Diaries (book)|The Basketball Diaries]]'' (1978). He had heard a movie version was in the works and wanted to play the autobiographical role of [[Jim Carroll]]. The film was sent into hiatus on numerous occasions with Phoenix being cited as the main contender for the role each time. ''[[The Basketball Diaries (film)|The Basketball Diaries]]'' (1995) was made with 19-year-old [[Leonardo DiCaprio]] in the lead.<ref>{{Cite web|date=April 5, 2016|title=7 Movies That Might Have Starred River Phoenix|url=https://www.goliath.com/movies/7-movies-that-might-have-starred-river-phoenix/|access-date=April 30, 2021|website=Goliath|archive-date=January 17, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210117123529/https://www.goliath.com/movies/7-movies-that-might-have-starred-river-phoenix/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
*He had expressed interest in playing the 19th-century poet [[Arthur Rimbaud]] in ''[[Total Eclipse (film)|Total Eclipse]]'' (1995) by Polish director [[Agnieszka Holland]].<ref name=autogenerated1/> Phoenix died before the movie was cast, with the role eventually going to Leonardo DiCaprio.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/culturepicturegalleries/11121170/Leonardo-DiCaprio-in-pictures.html?frame=3051381 |title=Total Eclipse (1996) - Leonardo DiCaprio: his career in pictures |access-date=February 11, 2020 |newspaper=[[Telegraph (newspaper)|Telegraph]]}}</ref>
*Phoenix was [[James Cameron]]'s original choice to play Jack Dawson in ''[[Titanic (1997 film)|Titanic]]'' (1997), with the role ultimately going to Leonardo DiCaprio.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/news/2494354/actors-who-couldve-been-cast-in-titanic|title=12 Actors Who Could've Been Cast In Titanic|last=Ashton|first=Will|date=September 15, 2022|website=CinemaBlend|publisher=[[Future plc]]|access-date=December 13, 2022|quote=James Cameron had originally considered River Phoenix for the role, but the young actor tragically passed away before he could be asked to play the leading man part.}}</ref>
*[[Comic book]] writer [[Lee Marrs]] claimed in a 2023 interview with the IndyCast podcast that [[Lucasfilm Ltd.]] considered for a while to make a continuation to the ''[[Indiana Jones]]'' film series starring Phoenix as a younger Indy, being this the primary reason for which [[Dark Horse Comics]] hoped to keep running their [[Indiana Jones (comics)|''Indiana Jones'' comic book line]]. Phoenix's death in 1993 put an end to this option and Dark Horse cancelled their line a few years later, stopping the development of any ''Indiana Jones'' films until ''[[Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull]]'' (2008).<ref>{{Cite podcast |url=https://www.theindycast.com/indycast-episode-330/ |title=Indycast: Episode 330 |website=IndyCast |publisher=IndyCast |date=February 20, 2023 |time= |access-date=April 29, 2023 |last=Dolista |first=Ed}}</ref> ''Last Crusade'' actor [[Richard Young (actor)|Richard Young]] previously claimed in 2018 that there were talks about him and Phoenix doing a prequel movie together about Phoenix's younger Indy and Young's Fedora.<ref>{{cite web|title=Indymag issue 14 - interview with Junior Jones - March 2018|url=https://issuu.com/indymag/docs/indymag_14_-_march_2018_-_print|website=Isssu|date=March 30, 2018 |access-date=27 November 2024}}</ref>