Paul Thomas Anderson’s upcoming film, which is expected to be the costliest of his career, includes an all-star ensemble. Oscar winners Sean Penn, who most recently made an appearance in Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza,” and Leonardo DiCaprio, who has been long rumoured to be in the project, will both feature in the untitled picture. They accompany Regina Hall, the star of “The Hate U Give” and “Girls Trip.” This month, Warner Bros. will begin producing the movie, which will take place in California, the setting for almost all of Anderson’s films. A person with expertise in the film’s making said that the new Anderson project will be a group endeavour with a modern setting.
The movie is shrouded in confidentiality, to the extent that Warner Bros. attempted to conceal for months even the fact that it was creating the picture. However, the cost of the film has drawn criticism; insiders claim that the budget is close to $100 million, a significant amount for an Anderson production. With a resume that includes beloved films like “Phantom Thread” and “Boogie Nights,” he is among the most accomplished directors working today and a frequent contender for the Oscar.
It seems that DiCaprio, who most recently featured in “Killers of the Flower Moon,” will contribute to increasing the movie’s appeal to a wider audience. He is still among the most lucrative leading males, having acted in successful films such as “The Revenant” and “The Wolf of Wall Street.” DiCaprio was originally scheduled to star in “Boogie Nights,” but in an outbreak of pandemonium, he left the production to work on a small picture called “Titanic,” which gave Mark Wahlberg his big break. Additionally, Anderson attempted to cast Penn in “Boogie Nights,” seeing him in the part of Alfred Molina’s gonzo.
Warner Bros. has produced “Alto Knights,” an animated adaptation of “Cat in the Hat,” a follow-up to “Beetlejuice,” and a crime thriller starring Robert De Niro under the direction of De Luca and Abdy. A few hours after announcing on Tuesday that it had cast Tom Cruise in new original and franchise films, the studio withdrew Bong Joon-Ho’s sci-fi thriller “Mickey 17” from its scheduled debut.