14 DAY TRIAL // Joaquin Phoenix hasn’t worked in quite some time. In fact, judging by what came out in the press, he’s been on a break since he came out with the faux-documentary “I’m Still Here.” Fans should be happy to know he’s preparing for a new project.
Variety reports that there’s a new movie in the works right now and that Phoenix will be on board when it goes into production.
It’s a religious drama detailing the inner workings of a cult that bears a striking resemblance to Scientology, and will see Phoenix work with actor Philip Seymour Hoffman on a script by Paul Thomas Anderson.
“Joaquin Phoenix, who hasn’t acted since his ‘retirement’ that precipitated ‘I’m Still Here,’ is in early talks to join Philip Seymour Hoffman in Paul Thomas Anderson’s untitled religious drama,” Variety informs.
“Anderson is directing from his own original script, which chronicles a disaffected disciple’s relationship with the founder of a new faith that closely mirrors Scientology,” adds the movie publication.
“Hoffman will play Lancaster Dodd, a charismatic intellectual known as The Master, while Phoenix would play Freddie Sutton, an alcoholic drifter who becomes his right-hand man only to begin questioning his manipulative mentor,” says Variety.
Nothing is set in stone right now, but hopes are high that, unlike other of Anderson’s project, this will actually materialize in a film feature film.
As noted above, Phoenix has been on an extended break for quite some time: before “I’m Still Here,” he only did the drama “Two Lovers” in 2008 and then shut himself from the world to make the little-convincing documentary about his retirement.
“I’m Still Here” bombed at the box office and fared poorly with critics as well. The worst about it, though, was that it managed to alienate many of the actor’s fans, who believed he should have been above indulging in such a pretentious yet mess of a “vanity project.”