The rumors are true. Filmmaker Paul Thomas Anderson (“Licorice Pizza,” “The Master”) has a new film in the works, and the cast is absolutely stacked. As rumored on the internet, Leonardo DiCaprio is in the lead role, but he’s not the only one at the top. DiCaprio is joined by Sean Penn and Regina Hall (per Deadline). The movie’s title is currently unknown, but rumors point to it being about a young Black girl who trains in martial arts. DiCaprio is expected to play her mentor.
While it’s unclear if the young girl has been cast yet—maybe an unknown?—a huge cast is also in talks to appear. The report claims this is going to have a massive ensemble, much like Anderson’s “Boogie Nights.” While not confirmed, many names are flying around as possible ensemble cast members, including Joaquin Phoenix, Viggo Mortensen, and Rachel Taylor. Deadline also claims this film will be PTA’s “most commercial” project to date. Variety adds that the budget is approaching $100 million and will likely be PTA’s most expensive project to date.
No other details have been revealed, but it sounds like a sweet coming-of-age film and possibly one that PTA wrote with his daughter. In 2018, after the release of his last movie, “Phantom Thread,” Anderson teased that he was writing a film with his daughter Lucy.
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“Well, I’m working right now on a story with my daughter Lucy. She’s 8. She has taken it upon herself, realizing that if I wasn’t going to do it, she would do it with me,” he explained to the LA Times. “We’re trying to hash out something right now. It’s a good collaboration, too. It keeps you on your toes. I was trying to guide the story to something a little bit darker, where my instincts wanted to take it, and she was politely, very sweetly reminding me I was aiming it that way and brought it back. We had a good run at it and took a break. We’ve got to get back to it.”
Anderson finally working with Leonardo DiCaprio is major, but not a surprise. DiCaprio was in early conversations to star in “Boogie Nights.” He ultimately turned down the role that Mark Wahlberg took over in favor of “Titanic,” which was probably the right call given it made him one of the biggest stars on the planet ever since. Anderson said he and the Academy Award-winning actor have been in dialogue for several years and have been looking for the right project to work together on.
In 2018, Anderson vowed that he and the “The Revenant” star would eventually work together. “I love Leo and loved him then because I was obsessed with ‘Gilbert Grape,’” Anderson explained at the time. “But backing up before that, ‘This Boys Life’ was a fucking amazing film.”
“Leo and I will work together one day,” he stressed. “And it will be the right thing, but it will happen.”
DiCaprio was also rumored to be up for Bradley Cooper’s role in “Licorice Pizza,” but PTA quickly debunked that rumor.
No word yet on a title and who plays who in the film—maybe Regina Hall plays the young girl’s mother?—but hopefully, those details will arrive soon. Filming is expected to begin this year and soon; Deadline says January 21, so one wonders if the film could arrive by late 2024. PTA managed a similar timeline with “Licorice Pizza” during COVID-19, no less, so who knows.