Well, as expected, filming is now underway on Paul Thomas Anderson‘s long-awaited untitled Scientology flick aka “The Master” in Vallejo, California and with it comes a couple morsels of info to tide over fans of the director for now.
In an article about the film in the Vallejo Times-Herald (via Cigarettes & Red Vines) producer JoAnne Sellar told the paper that the film “is expected to open in late 2012.” Now let’s not go booking time off work just yet. That’s currently the plan, but obviously things can change and nothing is locked down just yet. That said, given that this is pretty much a no-brainer for an awards season run, and with a year and a half to work with, making that deadline shouldn’t be too hard.
Perhaps more interestingly, Sellar denied that the film had any connection with Scientology or L. Ron Hubbard, telling the paper, “It’s a World War II drama. It’s about a drifter after World War II.” Of course, we know that’s only part of the story. Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Jesse Plemons, David Warshofsky, Laura Dern, Lena Endre, Rami Malek and Madisen Beaty the film centers on Lancaster Dodd (Hoffman), who returns from WWII and starts a religion (not unlike Scientology), taking Freddie Sutton (Phoenix), a former alcoholic, under his wing.
Still more drips and drops to come as the film slowly moves forward. Our biggest question? Who is going to be taking on the scoring duties? We kinda hope he goes for a Bernard Herrmann-esque score of the period to switch up the game a little, not to mention we think it would suit the material pretty amazingly. And if you feel so inclined, you can check out a small set photo at either of the links above.
