EXCLUSIVE: A24 is in final negotiations for an untitled drama that will be the next film for Joker star Joaquin Phoenix. The movie has been written and will be directed by 20th Century Woman and Beginners filmmaker Mike Mills.

Production begins in the fall, and the deal is a coup for A24 to land the first film vehicle for Phoenix coming off his tour-de-force performance in the Todd Phillips-directed Joker.

Phoenix’s performance in becoming the supervillain from the DC Batman universe has been widely touted at the fall festivals — it won the Golden Lion at Venice — and he is considered an Oscar Best Actor front-runner for a role that is as physically and emotionally profound as I can remember seeing since Daniel Day-Lewis in My Left Foot.

Producers on the new pic are Chelsea Barnard, Lila Yacoub and Andrea Longacre-White.

Phoenix, a three-time Oscar nominee, is repped by WME and Sloane, Offer. Mills, nominated for an Original Screenplay Oscar in 2018 for his last feature film 20th Century Women, is with UTA and Lichter, Grossman.