Where does a director go after making something as acclaimed as "There Will Be Blood"? That's what we're all hungry to know about Paul Thomas Anderson, but the director is taking his time with his follow-up.
While it lacks a title and a full cast, that next film now has a home with The Weinstein Company. And Joaquin Phoenix.
According to Deadline, the Weinsteins won a fevered bidding war for the rights to distribute Anderson's next film. It's being financed by Megan Ellison, the young heiress who's been championing and supporting a number of independent and cash-strapped films.
But Ellison can't put movies into theaters. The Weinsteins can. They can also wield a lot of publicity power come awards time, which may result in Anderson finally walking home with an Oscar or two.
Anderson will probably need power like that, since his film (once titled "The Master") is already drawing a little controversy.
Starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Phoenix, it centers on a World War II soldier (played by Hoffman) who comes home haunted by the horrors of war. Confused by a postwar world and himself, he goes on a quest to discover who he really is. In doing so, he creates a new belief system that attracts other lost souls.
Anything with religion is always going to raise eyebrows, but some insist the film is meant to be a criticism of Scientology, which would undoubtedly anger a lot of A-list talent. We'll see, though. If "There Will Be Blood" taught us anything about this talented director, it's that his films resist an easy interpretation.
