Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master now delayed indefinitely

Since PUNCH DRUNK LOVE in 2002, Paul Thomas Anderson has only directed one film, THERE WILL BE BLOOD in 2007. That film won him endless critical praise and award noms, much like most of his other work, but since then, we’ve heard almost nothing from the man, other than he was planning to start shooting his next project, tenatively titled THE MASTER, in August.

And since it’s late September, and no production has begun, that should be a pretty big clue that there are some issues on set, and now there is official confirmation that THE MASTER has been postponed indefinitely.

Jeremy Renner and Phillip Seymour Hoffman were set to star in the drama based around a Scientology-type religion called “The Cause”, with Renner as a lost soul and Hoffman as the L. Ron-ish leader. Here’s what both have to say about the project stalling (via The Playlist):

“I was really bummed about that,” Renner revealed. “It really kind of stalled because when we were rehearsing — Phil, Paul and myself — we kept coming up against a wall that we couldn’t overcome. Or at least Paul couldn’t overcome.”

And confirming the project’s stalemate, Hoffman revealed in an interview with The Playlist during press rounds for “Jack Goes Boating” that “I don’t have any new information [‘The Master’]. I really mean that, I’m not being obtuse. I don’t quite know what that is at the moment, but hopefully I will and hopefully I’ll be part of something soon. It would be great to work with him again.”

It’s a shame, because it’s incredibly likely due to Anderson’s track record this would be amazing, but hopefully the project will get its shit sorted and we might still see it someday. But it certainly won’t be soon.