Paul Thomas Anderson Hopes To Shoot ‘Inherent Vice’ In 2013
After whipping out three features in four years in the late ’90s,Paul Thomas Andersonmellowed his pace during the ’00s. It took three years to get fromMagnoliatoPunch-Drunk Love, five to get from the latter toThere Will Be Blood, and then another five after that to completeThe Master. But he’s wasting no time moving on his next project, theThomas PynchonadaptationInherent Vice.
Anderson first signed on to adapt the noir tale in 2010, but then wound up shootingThe Masterfirst. Now that that’s behind him, though, Anderson is planning to move into production onInherent Vicenext year. More after the jump.
News of Anderson’s next move comes from aNYT profileof the filmmaker. Anderson’s spoken before of hisdifficultiesin adapting the book (“It’s like somebody dumped bags of gold in front of me and I can only take so much with me. What do I do?") but as of now, he says he has “a large stack of pages” complete and wants to shoot in 2013.
WhereasThere Will Be Bloodtook inspiration from Upton Sinclair’sOil!without following it directly, Anderson saysInherent Vicewill be a more straightforward adaptation. “It’s more secretarial,” he told the paper. “The credit should be like ‘secretary to the author.’ […] But it’s no less fun. In some ways it’s just what the doctor ordered right now for me: being more selfless.”
To that end, he seems to be working with the famously reclusive Pynchon, but Anderson won’t say so much as the author’s name. “I would get dangerously close to betraying trust,” he said when asked about any collaboration with Pynchon. But he’s taking inspiration from a few other sources as well, including an underground comic strip called theFabulous Furry Freak Brothersthat he calls a “research bible.”
The thought of getting another Anderson film within the next year or two is an exciting one, though he still has a few more pieces to get into place before cameras can roll. Such as the casting. The article offers no mention ofRobert Downey Jr., who was circling the lead as recently as last year. But if the project really is on track to shoot next year, expect to get some updates soon.
