Paul Thomas Anderson, Associated Press We always take reports in the movie trade press with a 10-pound bag of rock salt, but this is too cool to ignore. The website Deadline New York says that Paul Thomas Anderson is in serious negotioations with Bill Pohlad's River Road Entertainment to produce his new Scientology-themed tale "The Master." The film had been under consideration at Universal, but the studio, stung by recent boxoffice disappointments (notably Matt Damon's underperforming "The Green Zone"), balked at the period drama's $35 million pricetag. That's not much as mainstream movies go, but for challenging upscale fare, it's pretty rich. Script reviews describe the project as an exploration of themes Anderson examined in his oil well epic "There Will Be Blood;" the influence of messianic religious figures on their followers and the bonds between fathers and sons. Set in the 1950s, "The Master" concerns the intense relationship between an allegorical L. Ron Hubbard figure who establishes a rapidly growing new sect, and a young drifter who finds his identity under the religious leader's wing. The seeker is an alcoholic who brews his own beer; one extra-strong batch gives a fellow drinker convulsions. That's just the sort of dark water-into-wine and Holy Roller metaphor that Anderson delights in. Philip Seymour Hoffman is set to star as the eccentric visionary. "The Hurt Locker's" Jeremy Renner is the leading candidate to play the wayward man looking for meaning in his life. The River Road deal sounds plausible. Anderson, who wrote and directed "Boogie Nights," "Magnolia" and "Punch Drunk Love," is the sort of high-toned auteur whose work River Road routinely supports. Anderson was on set as stand-by director throughout the filming of the Pohlad-produced "A Prairie Home Companion" in case the ailing Robert Altman needed a second-in-command. River Road, which likes to play its cards close to the chest about such matters, has not responded to email and phone requests for confirmation at press time.
