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.

A Tumblr fan page [via The Playlist] for composer Jonny Greenwood posted an image of the Radiohead guitarist standing outside an Alamo Drafthouse with Anderson.  Also in the image is Drafthouse and Fantastic Fest founder Tim League.  PTA fansite Cigarettes and Red Vines speculates that this gathering means the festival will play host to the picture.

Of course, this is all far from confirmed, but when I see the writer-director of a film, its composer, and the festival head standing outside a theater where the festival will be held, I tend to believe that something is going down.  If you haven't booked a ticket to Austin and bought a badge to the festival, you may want to get on that.  Even if The Master doesn't show up, Fantastic Fest always has a great line-up of films that you won't see anywhere else.

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