Paul Thomas Anderson Is Working on a 1970s High School Movie

Production on the new movie will start in February

 Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson attends the 2018 Texas Film Awards at AFS Cinema on March 8, 2018 in Austin, Texas.  (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/FilmMagic)
Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson attends the 2018 Texas Film Awards at AFS Cinema on March 8, 2018 in Austin, Texas. (Photo by Tim Mosenfelder/FilmMagic)
FilmMagic

According to The Hollywood Reporter, director Paul Thomas Anderson’s next project is a high school movie set in the 1970s.

Anderson will write, direct and produce the project through his Ghoulardi Film Company banner, and it will reportedly center around a high school student who is also a successful child actor. There’s no working title yet, but production on the film is set to begin in February 2020.

Like many of Anderson’s previous movies — including 1997’s Boogie Nights, 1999’s Magnolia and 2002’s Punch-Drunk Love — the new project will be set in the San Fernando Valley, where he grew up. 2017’s Oscar-nominated Phantom Thread, set in London, marked the first time the filmmaker made a movie outside of the United States.

The Hollywood Reporter reports that casting is underway to find the movie’s lead, and it also “features a multitude of roles and could be ensemble in nature or have intersecting storylines.” Representatives for Anderson declined to comment about the project.

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