This is gettin crazier and crazier LOL
Paul Thomas Anderson's New Film Actually Costs $175 Million, Might Be Rated PG-13 and ... is NOT Vineland?
So, it turns out that Paul Thomas Andersonโs new movie isnโt cheap. A source is telling Jeff Sneider that Warner Bros. greenlit PTAโs latest for the whopping sum of $175 million. Original reporting had it costing anywhere between $100-$125 million.
Regardless, what an enormous gamble this is given that PTAโs most successful film (โThere Will Be Bloodโ) only managed to make $76 million worldwide. Sure, this latest one has Leonardo DiCaprio in it, and is banking on a Summer 2025 rollout, in IMAX, no less, but itโs turned into the definition of a RISK. Iโm not complaining. Give PTA as much money as he wants.
Oh, and, supposedly, PTAโs latest might not even be โVinelandโ after all. It could be very loosely based on it, in the same way that โThe Masterโ was based on Pynchonโs โV,โ but donโt expect a wall-to-wall adaptation of โVineland.โ In fact, PTA, apparently, came up with the story and worked on the script with his daughter, Lucy. Thatโs the word on the street.
If you remember, back in 2018, PTA had confirmed that he was working on a script with his daughter who wasnโt happy with him only making R-rated films.
โWell, Iโm working right now on a story with my daughter Lucy. Sheโs 8. She has taken it upon herself, realizing that if I wasnโt going to do it, she would do it with me,โ Anderson said. โWeโre trying to hash out something right now. Itโs a good collaboration too. It keeps you on your toes.โ
Anderson explained that, per usual, he was trying to take the unspecified story to darker places but that Lucy prevented him from doing so. This aligns well with rumors that it could be PTAโs most โmainstreamโ film to date. What weโve noticed so far, from on-set leaks, is that the film is action-heavy, with lots of car chase scenes.
I mean, did we really expect Warner Bros to greenlight an R-rated $175 million film directed by Paul Thomas Anderson? Itโs, of course, still a possibility โ Warner CEO David Zaslav has done wilder things during his tenure as head honcho of Warners, but these latest whispers tell me that PTA is making a very commercial PG-13 film.