There were a lot of internet rumors and some clues over the last week. Now I can confirm that Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film will be an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s novel “Inherent Vice.” And also, it does like Robert Downey, Jr. and perhaps Charlize Theron will be the stars, with more names coming. After disappointing box office on “The Master,” PTA is said to be interested in having a moneymaker.
I can tell you that the brilliant and relatively young Megan Ellison is going to produce via her Annapurna Productions. Ellison is also busy prepping David O. Russell’s next one, “American Bullshit,” with Bradley Cooper and Christian Bale and, obviously, a new title.
Pynchon is notoriously reclusive. The legendary author of “Gravity’s Rainbow” and “V” has lived for years right here in New York, married to literary agent Melanie Jackson. He’s our J.D. Salinger, meaning no one ever sees him. (Other writers like this include Thomas Harris, the creator of Hannibal Lecter, who lives in Sag Harbor, and Harper Lee, who used to be in New York and is now down south in what I’m told may be assisted living.)
Pynchon did narrate a video for “Inherent Vice” which can be –and has been–found on You Tube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjWKPdDk0_U&feature=player_embedded#!. I’m told he thinks very highly of Anderson, who’s met with him a lot. “Pynchon only wants Paul to make this movie,” says a source. And we do too. More: “It’s closer to Boogie Nights than any of his other films.”
PS The original rumor of a PTA-Pynchon collaboration can be credited to Vulture, Collider, CinemaBlend, the New York Daily News, and the New York Times.
