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EXCLUSIVE: After the disappointing box office returns on Paul Greengrass’s thoughtful but vastly expensive action polemic Green Zone, what’s gonna happen with The Master, a new Paul Thomas Anderson drama that won’t get made by Universal because of its $35 million budget? I’m hearing talks are serious for Bill Pohlad’s River Road to fully finance a film that will star Philip Seymour Hoffman as a charismatic intellectual who in the 1950s becomes the leader of a start-up religion that takes off like wildfire. The Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner is circling the role of a young drifter who becomes his right hand man but begins to question his mentor and the whole belief thing. The presence of Oscar winner Hoffman and Oscar nominee Renner gives PTA another Oscar-bait movie, and a topical one, as the storyline questions long established religions as well as comparative upstarts like Scientology and Mormonism. But the $35 million price tag was blasphemy to some indie distributors who considered the package.
I’m also hearing that PTA’s longtime agent and former Paramount honcho John Lesher is likely to join as producer alongside Anderson’s longtime collaborator, Jo Anne Sellar. River Road seems a strong fit, given Pohlad’s affection for auteur fare. He made possible the Terrence Malick-directed The Tree of Life with Brad Pitt and Sean Penn, as well as the Warner Bros castoff Fair Game, the Doug Liman-directed drama about outed CIA op Valerie Plame which stars Penn and Noami Watts. Pohlad is principal investor and partner with Bob Berney in the distribution shingle Apparition. It’s unclear if Berney will get the PTA film, though it seems right in the distributor’s wheelhouse. Apparition next distributes The Runaways for Pohlad.
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Way to go Tom Skapars!
You mean the assistant?
This “River Road” religious pic sounds no better than the “Green Zone”. They are both anti-conservative. The River Road is anti-religious in the same way The Green Zone is anti-American. Besides, River Road sounds like a minor movie that will not guarantee big box office. Temper your expectations, but mostly expect failure.
PLease bro, drop dead. River Road is a company run by a loser with too much money in Minneapolis. It is not the name of a film.
Are conservatives the only people of faith? No.
So the movie will offend all religious people? Or maybe some religious folks will be less offended, I presume from your comment.
From your comment, I can tell you didn’t see “The Green Zone”, which is not an anti-American film. Instead. it is about a chief warrant officer, played by Matt Damon, during the early weeks of the current Iraq war and has to do with the lie surrounding weapons of mass destruction. It is not anti-American to say these never existed.
Its anti-american to inject false “truth” and “facts” into the movie to claim the Administration not only lied about WMD but actually manufactured the evidence by making up an informant. There is no basis for this in reality whatsoever.
It would have been a good film to show what a mistake it was to go to Iraq and a failure of not only United States intelligence, but also the intelligence of United Nations, France, and UK which all believed Iraq had WMD.
Seriously, did you even read the post? Oy vey.
I really, really loved this crazy-ass script and cannot fucking wait to see the movie. I don’t have any kind of horse in this race at all, but having loved “There Will Be Blood” more than “No Country,” I’m glad PTA is prepping a worthy successor.
Good luck to all those involved and kudos to River Road for taking this one on.
The script is amazing. Should be a great movie, one to get you thinking
You’ve read it? What’s printed on the title page?
What is it called?
untitled paul thomas anderson
written by paul thomas anderson
Hey Mike,
Could you keep your headlines more direct and to the point and less poetic and less flamboyant?
It is really hard to take the time to try to figure out the prose in your headlines when we are all in a hurry and need the bottom line as fast as possible.
Dressing up the headline isn’t actually going to make the story more interesting – so it just makes you look like you are trying too hard. OK?
(Because it keeps reminding us of the Variety and Hollywood Reporter hyperbole which we hated – which is why we love Nikki. She stays direct and to the point with her headlines.)
Thanks,
Mic
if you’re in such a hurry, how come you could take the time out to complain about something so trivial?
PTA is the man as far as I’m concerned….I would love to see Renner in the mix as well, think he’s be great with PTA. I understand all the issues in today’s market place, but if our industry can’t find it’s way to make this guys movie’s, at this point in his career, then we have truly become worthless peddlers of fluff and shite.
Just when you thought we were rid of Lesher….
Forget about what “Michael” said. Many of us love your style. Apparently, “MIc” is accustomed to Twitterfeeds which don’t challenge him much.
PTA should make the movie in 3D — then Universal would know how to market it! Never bet against PTA. He is a true auteur. 35 million is a little high for this type of fare, but period gets pricey.
The failure of THE GREEN ZONE lies solely on Universal. Didn’t they learn their lesson with THE KINGDOM? D’uh! What made them think THE GREEN ZONE would be any different? Matt Damon? Please.
I had it up to here (my hand is above my head) with what’s passing for film these days. “Transforming Pirates of Persia on Elm Street in 3D Part II”, anyone?
The industry’s lucky to have people like PTA and Bill Pohlad right now. Oh, look at the time 5:15. Time for my martini.
“I had it up to here (my hand is above my head) with what’s passing for film these days. “Transforming Pirates of Persia on Elm Street in 3D Part II”, anyone?”
Audience shouldn`t be blamed for the failure of movies that don`t have mass appeal. Blame studios that invest $150 mio in something like Green Zone, although demand just isn`t there, and think that giving it a Next Bourne bait and switch marketing would do the trick. These guys have overpaid jobs and big part of those jobs is figuring out what sells and by how much and approving the budget accordingly.
This new PTA movie sounds less commercial than Hurt Locker which costed $12 mio, but couldn`t make twice as much due to some serious screw up on the studio part(release date, marketing). cause any movie that has **** blow up is perfectly capable of making twice its budget and Hl`s budget was really low. Nobody can tell me that $24 mio gross was unachievable.
OTOH, a talky drama about religion for $35 mio? critical success, likely, boxoffice bomb, count on it.History of Violence and Eastern Promises had trouble brekaing even with the same budget and those movies should`ve been far more commercial thanks to action and names. They had post-LOTR Viggo Mortensen but I guess the guy is a total boxoffice poison.
So, yeah, overpiad producers and marketers should do their job right instead of wasting their money on something that people aren`t interested to see an masse. Budget everything according to demand and try not to overestimate big name`s appeal.
This movie seemed way out of place at Universal anyway. It’s too ballsy. The script is excellent, challenging, and likely to piss a few people off. It’s not that Universal hasn’t taken chances on auteurs before — the only probably is that with unique material, both the studios AND the filmmakers are stupid for taking overinflated budgets: $65 million for Duplicity? $75 million (more like 90) for Funny People? Neither of those movies should’ve cost more than $30 mill–profits should’ve come (if any) from the back end. The good thing about PTA is that he keeps the budgets reasonable in exchange for keeping the material interesting. And the script is a goldmine for actors. PTA will get it made. Whether it will be profitable? The controversy it will create should allow it to clear its production costs, but I doubt it’ll be a blockbuster. Probably do similar numbers to TWBB — but it’ll be shorter on run-time. If he doesn’t finally win an academy award for this script, then Hollywood is a fucking joke.
>> This “River Road” religious pic sounds no better than the “Green Zone”. They are both anti-conservative. The River Road is anti-religious in the same way The Green Zone is anti-American.>>
Well, my goodness, we can’t have any of that.
Only pro-conservative, pro-religious, pro-American movies should be made. That way, we can celebrate “the Land of the Free” without allowing actual freedom, only lip service.
Sheesh.
With the failure rate of Iraqi movies, wouldn’t you want a success from this genre? No, guess not. Freedom of Speech by your definition means a failed box office. Yeah, let’s have the true defintion of capitalism.
HURT LOCKER did (and is doing, thanks to post-oscar sales) pretty well, considering the cost of making it. and it was honored for best picture… so i wouldnt call that Iraqi movie a failure.
There’s no doubt that the Hurt Locker is not anti-American and it won the Oscar. This movie is the exception, not the rule of how the topic of Iraq is treated. Nonetheless, it done about $12 million in the US box office, which makes it a failure by ANY METRIC. However, hopefully, it will make some money now after winning the Oscar, but this is not assured since it costed $15 million.
Current grosses: Worldwide: $25,800,000.
HMMM…. Treading water.
http://www.boxofficemojo.com/movies/?page=weekend&id=hurtlocker.htm
Unlike every other War movie made in the last 30 years, the Hurt Locker did not have some political preaching type message going on. It was simply a character study and a very well made film. You cant compare Hurt Locker to the rest of the war movies.
John Lesher, please stop throwing staplers at your assistants. it’s not nice.
Conservatism first emerged as a reaction against the French Revolution, and in this sense, true conservatism is reactionary; it involves a skepticism that challenges ideology.
Usually, the targeted ideology is liberalism, but every once in a while, we recognize that there is ideology in things we traditionally defend, like capitalism and religion (especially in their American iterations). Therefore, there’s a conservative critique yet to be written about ‘There Will Be Blood,’ which essentially depicts a violent clash between the capitalism of Daniel Plainview and the religion of Eli Sunday.
As a conservative, I’d be the first to stand up for ‘TWWB,’ and you’d better believe that I’ll see this next one.
(on a business matter, I wonder if PTA’s switch from WME to CAA has anything to do with the financing of this film).
I suspect that it did. The timing is too convienient.
“Only pro-conservative, pro-religious, pro-American movies should be made?”
-Other than ‘The Blind Side’ can you name ONE?
I will watch anything Paul Thomas Anderson makes. Period.
People are saying the initial title for this might be The Master.
Are you guys serious? The script is average at best. Quit sucking the PTA teet and read it without the cover page / author’s name, look at it objectively.
OMG, he ferments his own alcoholic beverage! Genius!>!?!?! ROFL, there’s creepy implied incest! Take that Scientology! The implications are uber-genious!?! And it happens on a boat, just like L. Ron Hubbard liked to do!?!?!?!
Fact is, the script, along with this project, has a lot of work to do, hence why it couldn’t get financing while he was at wme. now caa will bust their balls to get it done even though the project is flaccid, and pta will put out a project that deserves recognition comparable to punch drunk love but caa will rest on its studio contact laurels, probably stir up an overaggressive and undeserved spend that gets him a nomination or three more than this finished project deserves. Don’t fool yourselves, There Will Be Blood, Boogie Nights, and even Magnolia, this ain’t.
move along folks, this one smells like poop.
I suspect that “Don’t Worry About It” may be a scientologist. Call it a hunch.
“Quit sucking the PTA teet and read it without the cover page / author’s name, look at it objectively.”
But actually, the author’s name is a clue as to how to read the script! ‘There Will Be Blood’ was over-written, but the movie was a gem of restraint. It’s a process thing. He has a crew that works with him regularly, a DP who’s willing to shoot a scene two different ways and experiment with the end result, and a recurring cast of actors who cherish the characters he invents. So PTA, JoAnn Sellar, and Dylan Tichenor (editor) will find this movie, even if it’s still a bit mysterious even to them!
I miss you Lesher. I told Brad that we should’ve kept you on board. Never again will we win a major award without backdoor Johnny.
Did anyone happen to mention to Hoffman and Renner that Anderson’s films routinely suck?
To paraphrase: “They make insomniacs watch his movies when heavy medication won’t work.”
‘There Will Be Blood’ might be the best film of the decade.
We make good films. You must make the other kind.
My own ‘teet-sucking’ is based on a so-called ‘objective’ view of the man’s past accomplishments. I have not read the supposed early draft of a script (and I would not want to anyway). I happen to think Paul Thomas Anderson is one of America’s more interesting filmmakers.
Yes, it is possible that he could end up making what some people think is a stinking mess of a picture, but I’d even rather pay to watch that (for $35 million?) than whatever else is “failing” at the box office lately.
Adult-aimed movies have really been suffering in the past two years. Studios are getting afraid to go for the 25-54 demo
I love everyone’s passion but this is a business. Films with select appeal should unfortunately get a smaller budget. It is the reality of studio life today.
I thought Paul Dano was going to do the Renner role?
Or was that always just sort of assumed based on There Will Be Blood?
one concern i would have about Dano in this role is that, from the sound of it (I havent yet read the script) it seems a bit haunted by his THERE WILL BE BLOOD character. Dano is great, but I’d like to see someone else in this role
Very interesting stuff here folks….PTA is with out a doubt my favorite working director. I anticipate his films – whatever they are – more than anyone else’s. I did not love PDL, but like Brandon said above, I would prefer to spend my money on a “miss” from PTA than just about any other movie out there made by an American director or film made by a studio. TWBB, PDL, MAGNOLIA, BN, & even Sidney…Feel free to come up with another writer/Director whose first 5 films have been as eclectic, interesting, diverse, and ambitiously intelligent than his have been. I’m not saying they are burning up the box office, but there is a need for his movie. I guess you could put QT in there…
It used to be that writers and directors were subtle in advancing their social agendas. Now they use a veritable sledgehammer and audiences can see it coming a mile away. Sorry Mike, there was nothing ‘thoughtful’ about Paul Greengrass’s anti-American polemic, “Green Zone.” I’m shocked it was even produced considering the long line of failures dealing with the ‘Middle East Wars’ that preceded it. The internet now allows those of us who are sick and tired of the constant America bashing to avoid this crap like the plague. I’ve admired some of PTA’s past work and I won’t pass judgement on his film until I have read more. But if it is another anti-christian ‘opus’ I won’t be purchasing a ticket—and I’m jewish. I wonder when Hollywood will wake up and realize that their hackneyed arguments fail to persuade anyone towards their cause? There is an increasing number of Americans who will avoid films with certain names attached. I’ve created a personal ‘blacklist’ and refuse to support entertainers, actors and other Hollywood elitists who continue to use their celebrity to advance a personal political agenda—I simply refuse to spend a dime on any thing with their names attached. They have a right to free speech.—as do I. I reply with my wallet.
It’s about Scientology, not Christianity. It’s not even really a knock on religion as much as it’s about this wayward guy named Freddie, to be played by Jeremy Renner, looking for meaning and direction in his life and a shuckster cult leader with a messianic complex, to be played by Phillip Seymour Hoffman, who “takes him under his wing.” The story isn’t about religion per se but rather more about the need some people have to lead just as others have a need to follow. It’s actually a pretty interesting concept.
Some conservatives just need to chill out. You read a headline and make all sorts of assumptions.
Huh? Quote “the storyline questions long established religions as well as comparative upstarts like Scientology and Mormonism”
A question from Hollywood is more about being anti-religion and anti-Christian. Let’s trash them all!!! But I’m curious about the Scientology treatment. Will they go soft with Scientology with the Scientologists in Hollywood?
I highly doubt it, since the cult’s more than likely gonna go belly up this year and more high profile members are gonna exit (i.e. Travolta) one by one.
I am offended as a moderate democrat every time I hear people make statements like that where only ‘conservatives’ should be offended if their faith is bashed.
smokebreakevans what do you mean by “backdoor Johnny”?
His dad used to be a milkman
It’s a very good script, and a very worthy follow up to There Will Be Blood. Fans of PTA will not be disappointed.