Paul Thomas Anderson’s “THE MASTER” to Shoot Next Month?

It’s being reported that Paul Thomas Anderson’s thinly-veiled scientology movie, tentatively titled The Master, is set to go before cameras next month.  Cigarettes & Red Vines says they spoke with Paul Thomas Anderson last night at Fred Armisen’s Largo show and it sounds like The Master is set to shoot sometime next month.  While we reported back in May that filming would begin in June,  I’m glad to know that the movie is shooting (hopefully) soon.  However, I’m curious if the movie is now officially titled “The Master”.  That title was originally bestowed by The Playlist when they reviewed the script.  “The Master” is the name of Philip Seymour Hoffman’s character, a charismatic L. Ron Hubbard-like cult leader, so I can see Anderson keeping the title.

Hit the jump for what else we currently know about Anderson’s highly-anticipated follow-up to the brilliant There Will Be Blood.

Here’s a brief synopsis of the plot.

“The Master” is a charismatic intellectual who hatches a faith-based organization that begins to catch on in America in 1952. The core is the relationship between the Master and Freddie, a twentysomething drifter who becomes the leader’s lieutenant. As the faith begins to gain a fervent following, Freddie finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor.

Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) has been cast as Freddie.  We also reported that Reese Witherspoon was in talks to play The Master’s wife, and that Amanda Seyfried, Emma Stone, and Deborah Ann Woll were being considered for the role of The Master’s daughter.  The premise sounds fantastic and with Hoffman and Renner on board, Anderson has already got two terrific actors to lead the film.  And while I think There Will Be Blood is a masterpiece, I think the director may be able to top himself with this one.