Paul Thomas Anderson is nothing if not deliberate. With Kubrickian spans of time between each of his films, the man simply will not be rushed. Which is why it was surprising that a few short months after his religious drama (commonly referred to as) “The Master” seemed to go quiet, it was revealed late last year that Anderson was already hard at work on his next project, an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s “Inherent Vice.” At that time, CAA, (who also rep Anderson), wanted to attach Robert Downey Jr. to the lead role of private eye Doc Sportello, but because of Downey’s busy schedule it was unclear when he would be available to film. Just over a week ago it was reported that billionairess Megan Ellison was looking to finance both projects for Anderson and many wondered which would shoot first? With Downey having recently dropped out of Sam Raimi’s “Oz The Great And Powerful” it looked very likely that he might have a ‘Vice’ sized hole in his schedule later this year.
Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter Downey is making plans to shoot ‘Vice’ with Anderson this fall. Though CAA declined to comment, apparently Downey’s commitment to the project has “recently grown serious” and who can blame him? Anderson is arguably one of the most exciting American directors working today and his films don’t come around that often. Anderson is supposedly halfway through a second draft on the project so a fall start date would give him 6 months to complete the script before filming. It may sound ambitious considering Anderson’s usual method of working but we’re hoping that the two can find a way to collaborate on this project. While it sounds like a mix of “The Long Goodbye” and “The Big Lebowski,” we’re sure the pair will make it something all their own. The question would become, if ‘Vice’ does move into production first, will Anderson make his way back to “The Master” project or move onto something else entirely?