Paul Thomas Anderson‘s The Master could be a major player in this year’s awards season.  It’s got The Weinstein Company behind it, and judging by the trailers, the movie looks terrific.  Usually, if an awards season film is going to make a festival debut, it will be at Venice, Telluride, or Toronto.  However, in 2007, a little film called There Will Be Blood premiered at the Alamo Drafthouse’s annual film festival, Fantastic Fest, and now it’s look like Anderson might premiere his latest picture at the annual Austin event.  Even though Fantastic Fest is known more for its genre-fare than heavy dramas, film lovers are film lovers and I’m sure everyone at the festival would be excited out of their minds to see The Master.

So what’s the evidence for this possible premiere?  Hit the jump for more.  The Master opens in limited release on October 12th.  Fantastic Fest runs from September 20 – 27th.

The first clip Paul Thomas Anderson‘s The Master has gone online.  The film stars Philip Seymour Hoffman as a veteran who’s haunted by his experiences during World War II, and decides to form his own religion as a result.  Joaquin Phoenix plays a drifter who becomes the right-hand man to Hoffman’s character.  As you’ll see from the clip, the movie apparently has a very heavy There Will Be Blood vibe both in terms of how its cut and from Jonny Greenwood‘s score.  The Master is also Joaquin Phoenix’s first movie since “retiring” from acting, and he looks absolutely amazing.  His performance in this clip is both creepy and dangerous, and I can’t wait to see him return to form in what could be one of his best roles to date.

Hit the jump to check out the clip.  The film, which also stars Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons, and David Warshovsky, is having a sneak peek for press later today at the Cannes Film Festival.  The Master will probably make the fall festival rounds before hitting theaters on October 12th.

Jonny Greenwood‘s score for There Will Be Blood was one of the many reasons the film was amazing.  It pulled just enough from period-era music so as not be jarring, but it was offbeat enough to be completely unnerving.  Now, Cigarettes and Red Vines is reporting that Greenwood is re-teaming with director Paul Thomas Anderson to score The Master (still an unofficial title).  Oliver Weindling, founder of British record label Babel, tweeted said “Zed-U recorded part of soundtrack for Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead last week. Film (by Paul Thomas Anderson) to appear in 2013.”  Zed-U are a British jazz trio and you can listen to some of their music after the jump.

For those who aren’t familiar with The Master, the story centers on a World War II veteran (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who returns home and creates his own religion after witnessing the horrors of war.  At one point, The Master reportedly had a very strong parallel to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, but it’s unknown how much of the script has changed since then.  The Master co-stars Joaquin Phoenix, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, Jesse Plemons, and David Warshovsky. Let’s take a moment to be grateful that this once-dead project is now in post-production with a late 2012 U.S. release on the horizon (the 2013 date is when the movie will probably hit the U.K.)