It was just after Thanksgiving last year that we received the exciting news that Paul Thomas Anderson––who turns 53 today––was set to embark on his tenth narrative feature this summer. While a few casting call details provided insight into what we may expect, the project has otherwise been shrouded in secrecy as expected, despite some baseless rumors he could be adapting Thomas Pynchon’s Vineland. While production has been delayed due to the WGA strike, we have our first notable update in some time.
Buried in a piece on the ongoing battle to save TCM from David Zaslav’s profit-hungry, anti-art ethos––recently slashing about 70 jobs at TCM, cutting the staff from 90 to 20, yet still ludicrously promises not much will change at the channel––IndieWire‘s Eric Kohn reports that Paul Thomas Anderson is set to reteam with Warner Bros. on his next project. Last working with the studio a decade ago for Inherent Vice (still his best film, as I discussed at length), the partnership makes sense as Michael De Luca, the new-ish head of Warner Bros. film group, has a long history with the director, backing Licorice Pizza when he was with MGM and working on Boogie Nights and Magnolia when he was at New Line.
As for any more details, Kohn only mentions the long-gestating rumors of Joaquin Phoenix, Viggo Mortensen, and Regina Hall being attached to PTA’s film. They can be added to a rumored list that at various points included Leonardo DiCaprio, Rachael Taylor, Taylour Paige, Vicky Krieps, Jack Champion, and Harriet Sansom Harris. Per usual, don’t expect any official confirmations until cameras start to roll and set pics arrive. In the meantime it’s nice to know he has the backing of a major studio, including one who did a stellar marketing job attempting to sell the PTA film that probably least appeals to a general audience.