Initially accidentally announced and then quickly retracted from last week's unveiling of the Venice Film Festival lineup, Paul Thomas Anderson's "The Master" is now officially headed to the Lido, and probably Toronto too. The news comes on the heels of the recent release date switch that saw The Weinstein Company move the picture up a month to Septmeber 14th release date from a previous October bow, making the film one of the first major talking points of the awards season.
Speculation about where the film would premiere has been rampant in recent weeks, with Fantasic Fest being suggested, along with Telluride when "The Master" was initially taken off the Venice list. There has also been some concern about which of the festivals would be capable of handling the unique 70mm format the film will be presented (though it seems Venice, Telluride and TIFF can all do so). According to Deadline, the film will screen on Saturday, September 1st (and though Telluride launches the same weekend, it apparently wll not screen there), and a TIFF is also pegged as a strong possibility (the the film will hit theaters two days before the fest is over) though nothing has been locked yet. Update: This evening, The Wrap confirms "The Master" will play TIFF. So mark your calendars — the awards season is getting very exciting.
So, in other words, in about four weeks the first verdict will be in on Paul Thomas Anderson's long awaited film. Xenu beware.