Philip Seymour Hoffman, teaming for the fourth time with Anderson, will be playing the lead role as a character known only as “the Master” (as in “master of ceremonies”) in what will be a 1950s period drama. Hoffman’s “Master” will be “a charismatic intellectual who hatches a faith-based organization that begins to catch on in America in 1952.”
“The core is the relationship between the Master and Freddie, a twentysomething drifter who becomes the leader’s lieutenant. As the faith begins to gain a fervent following, Freddie finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor.”
Variety also states the following which I thought was kind of a funny: “The drama does not so much scrutinize self-started churches like Scientology or the Mormons, as much as it explores the need to believe in a higher power, the choice of which one to embrace and the point at which a belief system graduates into a religion.”
Whether that’s simply publicity-speak to not piss-off half of Hollywood and the TWILIGHT community will remain to be seen. But good GOD do I hope this film pisses somebody off. Controversy! Fun!
The project is lined up at Universal with a proposed budget of $35 million. A decision about whether to greenlight the pic won’t come until Anderson delivers a finished script, which will hopefully be soon.