Pretty much working under a veil of secrecy, not much has been known about Paul Thomas Anderson's upcoming, untitled maybe-about-Scientology, religious cult drama also known as "The Master." What we do know is that is stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams and Laura Dern, was shot in 65mm, has Jonny Greenwood doing the score, with the story taking place just after WWII, centering on a man who founds a new belief system and takes a young man under his wing. And oh yeah, some behind the scenes pics surfaced late last year as well. But that's about it. Speculation about the film appearing at Cannes or being an awards season player have been kicked around and while we'll have to wait and see on the former, the latter is seemingly more like.
PTA fansite Cigarettes & Red Vines, have contacted the film's producer Megan Ellison (of Annapurna Pictures) via Twitter regarding a potential release date for the film and she hit them back saying: "I know you guys are waiting on a release date for 'the Master', and it's still a bit early, but I'd keep my eyes on October."
Whether that's a wide release or a festival bow remains to be seen, as the site notes that "There Will Be Blood" made its world premiere at Fantastic Fest at the end of September in 2007. Whether this will take another detour to a genre fest, or hit a major player like Venice or TIFF first remains to be seen, though Cannes does seem unlikely (but not impossible) this far out.
There's no exact date from The Weinstein Company, nor details on if it will go out in wide release or a limited rollout. But either way, you can lock down "The Master" for 2012. Now let's get some first looks at this thing already.