We have bad news if you were looking forward to Paul Thomas Anderson tackling obscure, made up religions that definitely have no relation to any existing organisation whose name rhymes with “ryantology”: his planned next film **The Master appears to be on indefinite hold. But there’s good news if you’re a fan of Thomas Pynchon’s noir writing, as the writer/director is apparently targeting the novel Inherent Vice.){href='http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2010/12/paul_thomas_anderson_plans_to.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+nymag/vulture+(Vulture+-+nymag.com' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer'}
Vulture reports that while Anderson’s plans are still at a fairly early stage – there’s no clarification, for example, as to whether he’s still scratching away at a treatment or has launched into actual script territory – but it’s still exciting to think of a cool combination of filmmaker and subject matter.
Published in 2009, Vice follows Larry “Doc” Sportello, a pot-loving private eye who shabbily investigates mysteries around the time of 1969’s Summer of Love.
Since saying Anderson is a bit reserved when he’s working on something new is akin to saying Bruce Banner has slight anger issues, there’s very little else known at the moment. But one interesting nugget did slip under the cone of silence: Anderson is seriously considering Robert Downey Jr for the lead, though if any feelers about the role have gone out yet, no one is confirming it. And while RDJ would be a solid choice for Doc, he’s also a little bit booked up next year, schedule-wise…