He's been largely quiet since scooping a couple of Oscars for There Will Be Blood, but now Paul Thomas Anderson is settling on his next project, and regular collaborator Philip Seymour Hoffman will be - cheer now - front and centre.
The new movie, which has the rough working title of The Master, will find Hoffman as a charismatic man in the 1950s who dreams up an idea for a faith-based organisation that starts to draw a real following in America.
Character-wise, it'll focus on the relationship between "the master" (Hoffman) and Freddie, a twentysomething drifter who becomes his trusted right hand man. But as his mentor's power grows, Freddie begins to question the belief system.
According to Anderson, it's not aiming to take a stab at the likes of Scientology (we bet they'll find some way to take offense and write letters, though) or the Mormons (ditto), but will instead explore the need to have faith in a higher power and the tipping point between belief systems and religions.
But before it can explore anything, Anderson needs to finish a script that can be shot for $35 million so that Universal can greenlight the thing...