There were no blockbusters on this September frame but, after last weekend’s dismal returns, it’s hard to feel disappointed. Aided by 3D technology, Resident Evil: Retribution reigned with $21.1 million – more than twice what The Possession earned in first place last weekend. Finding Nemo 3D also had a ticket-price advantage although, in this case, the 2003 Pixar classic could not match the gross of last year’s 3D The Lion King re-release.

After enduring the worst weekend since 2008 (and a couple more low weekends besides), the box office received a much-needed boost on Friday from a pair of familiar features. Resident Evil: Retribution was yesterday’s clear winner, earning an estimated $8.4 million from 3,012 locations. The fifth entry in the Resident Evil franchise, Retribution is expected to take in $22 million through Sunday – a slight decline from the $26.6 million posted by Resident Evil: Afterlife on this weekend in 2010. The last RE feature (and the first to feature 3D effects), Afterlife went on to earn almost $300 million worldwide – 79% of that from international audiences. 3D technology also claimed second place at the Friday box office with the debut of Finding Nemo 3D. The first Pixar classic to get a 3D make-over since the Toy Story/Toy Story 2 double feature, Nemo 3D earned an estimated $5.1 million from 2,904 runs for what is expected to be a debut weekend in the $18 million range. Finally, in just 5 theatres in New York and LA, Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master broke records for a limited release with a giant per-screen average of $48,425. Full details and analysis tomorrow.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master opens in limited release this Friday before expanding into more theaters next week, but you don’t have to wait that long to listen to the film’s score.  Anderson reteamed with There Will Be Blood composer (and Radiohead guitarist) Johnny Greenwood once again for his latest film, and the result is similarly unsettling yet beautiful.  The Master screened this week at the Toronto Film Festival to yet another positive response, but the general consensus is that there’s a lot to digest (read Matt’s review right here).  That’s not exactly a bad thing, and I can’t wait to see what Anderson’s put together.

Hit the jump to listen to Greenwood’s score.  The film stars Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.  The Master opens on September 14th.

Tickets for Paul Thomas Anderson‘s The Master should be good for two screenings.  The movie is so damn dense that there’s almost too much to digest on an initial viewing.  Like his previous film, There Will Be Blood, The Master is hypnotic with its smooth, crisp cinematography and Jonny Greenwood‘s moaning, bluesy score.  The story proceeds at a slow, methodical pace where the energy comes from the astonishing performances of lead actors Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Amy Adams.  But the craft and talent of the project was never in doubt.  What makes The Master such a challenge is in trying to untangle the twisted themes and symbols presented by the central conflict between a mad dog and his owner.

The award winners for the Venice Film Festival have been announced, but quite the controversy has arisen from the ceremony.  THR reports that the Michael Mann-led jury was poised to give Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master the festival’s top prize, the Golden Lion, but due to a ridiculous festival rule they opted to give the award to Kim Ki-Duk‘s revenge film Pieta instead.  Apparently the Venice Film Festival’s new rules state that one film cannot win more than two major awards, so in lieu of the Silver Lion directing award going to Anderson and the acting award being split by Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix, the jury was asked to reconvene and “remove” one of The Master‘s awards.

As one can imagine, a heated jury session followed that ultimately resulted in The Master’s Golden Lion being taken away.  Ah, awards season.  Nevertheless, the film is currently making the rounds at the Toronto Film Festival so check back on Collider soon for Matt’s full review.  In the meantime, hit the jump to check out the full list of awards from the Venice Film Festival.

If you’d like to check out director Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, you’re in luck (if you live in the Austin, TX area)!  The Alamo Drafthouse Ritz will be screening the film in 70mm this coming Monday, September 10th at 7:30 PM.  As a way to announce this event, a new, NSFW clip has been released that features Joaquin Phoenix as Freddie Quell taking a Navy psychological examination.  While we never get to see the inkblots in question, it’s clear that Quell only has one thing on his mind.  Hit the jump to see what that is.

The Master, also starring Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams opens in limited release September 14th, with expansion on September 21st. 

Back in December 2010, we reported that writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson was considering an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon‘s Inherent Vice possibly starring Robert Downey Jr. as pothead private detective Larry “Doc” Sportello.  In 2011, Anderson tried to get financing for Vice along with his upcoming film The Master, which recently premiered at the Venice Film Festival, play at TIFF, and then open in limited release on September 14th.  Anderson has now turned his attention back to Inherent Vice and is currently working on the script.

Hit the jump for more including how Inherent Vice isn’t the only Pynchon novel on Anderson’s radar.

A new TV spot for writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s highly anticipated drama The Master has been released.  The film tells the story of a charismatic intellectual (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who creates his own religion and the drifter (Joaquin Phoenix) he trains to be his right-hand man.  This new TV spot is in keeping with the ominous tone set by the other trailers and clips as it opens with Hoffman’s character talking about “the source of all creation” with bombastic enthusiasm.  The interactions between Hoffman and Phoenix look killer, and this TV spot is yet another reminder of the ridiculously promising films coming our way in the next few months.

Hit the jump to watch the trailer.  The film also stars Amy Adams and Jesse Plemons.  The Master opens in limited release on September 14th and expands everywhere on September 21st.

The wait is almost over for Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master, but we have one more trailer to share before it hits theaters next month.  Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as Lancaster Dodd, a charismatic leader for “The Cause.”  Joaquin Phoenix also stars as Freddie Sutton, a veteran of the Navy with what appears to be post-traumatic stress syndrome and who finds himself swayed by Dodd.  Phoenix lends a percussive tempo to the new trailer for The Master, which helps ratchet up the tension a bit.  While also featuring new footage, this last trailer showcases a few scenes that you can expect will look glorious in their 70mm format.  Hit the jump to watch it.

The release of Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master is less than a month away, but the level of teasing going on right now is almost cruel.  Anderson surprised viewers in Santa Monica with a secret premiere of the film a few weeks ago, and has subsequently had more unannounced screenings in Chicago and New York.  Word has been unsurprisingly positive, and Anderson has now finally spoken out a bit about the film’s development process and its ties to Scientology.  Hit the jump to see what he had to say. [Update: A new clip from the film has landed online, which is now included after the jump.]

We’re nearly there, folks.  Paul Thomas Anderson’s long-awaited The Master finally hits theaters nationwide in a little under a month, and you can now listen to a track from Johnny Greenwood’s score for the film to help tide you over for the time-being.  Greenwood—of Radiohead fame—scored Anderson’s 2007 pic There Will Be Blood, and his moody tones return yet again for The Master.  I found his work on Blood to be hauntingly beautiful, and based on what we hear in this track called “Application 45 Version 1”, it appears that his work on The Master will be equally unsettling.

Hit the jump to take a listen to what Greenwood has cooked up.  The soundtrack will be available on September 11th, while The Master opens on September 14th.

I was convinced I need to see The Master months ago, so I should probably stop watching the footage that they release online.  Yet it’s all so good in standalone form as clips, teasers, trailers: I have to watch everything.  In addition to the typical enigmatic spine-tingling quality, this new clip adds a couple elements.  1) I believe this is the most we have seen/heard of Amy Adams‘ character—she gets a nice, earnest monologue.  2) Assuming that’s Johnny Greenwood‘s score playing under this clip… wow.  Beautiful fluttering woodwinds everywhere.

Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Laura Dern, and Jesse Plemons also star in the latest from writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson.  The Master opens in just four short weeks on September 14, but find out how you can see it tomorrow night if you live in Chicago after the jump.

Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master is about a charismatic intellectual (Philip Seymour Hoffman) who creates his own religion and the drifter (Joaquin Phoenix) he trains to be his right-hand man.  Since the inception of the project, it has been implied and/or assumed that the story was partly influenced by the life of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology.  Philip Seymour Hoffman, however, is quoted in the new issue of EW opposing the idea that The Master is only about Scientology:

“It’s not the L. Ron Hubbard story…  [Scientology] was one of the bigger movements at the time, but there were a lot of movements at that time.  There’s nothing about how I’m behaving or talking that echoes [Hubbard].  I thought of a lot of other bigger-than-life personalities, charismatic people like Orson Welles.”

Hit the jump for more, including 12 new images from the movie.

The past few weeks have been chock-full of great news concerning Paul Thomas Anderson’s The Master.  First we got a fantastic full trailer, then The Weinstein Company moved the film’s released date up a full month, and just this past weekend Anderson surprised some lucky fans in Santa Monica with the first premiere screening of the film.  Now a brand new poster for the film has been released that’s both great and slightly puzzling.  The first poster was modeled after a bottle of wine and we assumed this alluded to Joaquin Phoenix’s character’s alcoholism, but I’m not as certain regarding the importance of this kaleidoscope design.  Nevertheless, it’s fantastic to look at and I imagine it’ll make more sense once we’ve seen the film.

Hit the jump to check out the poster.  The film also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams, Laura Dern, and Jesse Plemons.  The Master opens on September 14th.

It’s been five long years since writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson’s last feature (2007’s There Will Be Blood) and the one-of-a-kind filmmaker finally returns this year with the drama The Master.  The film is reportedly influenced by L. Ron Hubbard’s creation of Scientology, as Philip Seymour Hoffman stars as World War II veteran Lancaster Dodd, a man who’s haunted by his experiences and decides to form his own religion.  Joaquin Phoenix plays a drifter who becomes Dodd’s right hand man, and the film’s trailers promise some explosive performances from the two actors.

Fans have understandably been eager to get a look at the film, and we got some great news recently as it was announced that the film’s release date had been moved up a full month to September 14th.  Though that’s not too far away, Anderson surprised some lucky bastards last night by premiering the full film in a secret screening in Santa Monica, directly after a screening of The Shining.  Hit the jump to check out some of the first reactions to The Master.  Spoiler alert: they’re extremely positive.