It’s actually happening. After a long wait since 2007′s There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson has begun production on his next film, the religious drama starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons, David Warshofsky, Laura Dern, Madisen Beaty, Lena Endre, and Rami Malek. While it is far from set in stone the Vallejo Times-Herald (via Cigarettes & Red Vines) spoke to producer JoAnne Sellar, who told them the film “is expected to open in late 2012.” This would make sense, considering the expected strong awards push for the film.

In other highly-anticipated films of 2012 news, BoM reports Rian Johnson‘s Looper has set a date for September 28th, 2012 via FilmDistrict/TriStar, who picked the sci-fi thriller up during Cannes. The time travel film stars Bruce Willis (as an older version of Joseph Gordon-Levitt‘s character), Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, Jeff Daniels and Piper Perabo.

The high-concept story follows “hitmen whose victims are sent back in time from the future to be executed. The Loopers bump them off in the present, so there is no trace of a crime in the future.” We expected a release in the first half of 2012, but I can live with that, even if it is more than a year away. The site also reports a title change from Looper to Loopers, but we’ll wait and hear official word. UPDATE: We got official word from Johnson that the title remains Looper. He also confirmed the release date, saying “I’d love for it to be sooner but it’s a good date for the movie, hopefully it’ll be worth the wait. :-)”

We also have the first news of a date for The Killer Elite, the actioner starring Jason Statham, Robert De Niro and Clive Owen from Deadline. The remake of Sam Peckinpah‘s 1975 film is distributed by newcomer Open Road and will hit theaters September 23rd, 2011. It follows “a retired SAS man, Britains Elite Special Air Service is forced out of retirement when old comrades start being murdered.”

In minor release news, Roland Emmerich‘s Shakespeare film Anonymous has moved back a month from September 30th to October 28th, 2011, while George Clooney‘s political drama Ides Of March starring Ryan Gosling, Marisa Tomei, Evan Rachel Wood, and Paul Giamatti has moved forward a week, hitting theaters October 7th, 2011. FilmDistrict also set a March 9th, 2012 release for The Pursuit of Happyness director Gabriele Muccino‘s soccer drama Playing the Field, starring Gerard Butler, Jessica Biel, and Uma Thurman. The company also moved their Luc Besson-produced sci-fi flick Lockout, starring Guy Pearce, Maggie Grace, and Peter Stormare from February to April 13th, 2012.

Which film are you most looking forward to? What do you think about these release dates?