Philip Seymour Hoffman is 'The Master' in New Paul Thomas Anderson Flick

Stage and screen thespian and director Philip Seymour Hoffman has teamed up with There Will Be Blood writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson on a new drama in which Hoffman plays the founder of a new religious organization in the 1950s. The projects banner, Universal, will decided whether or not to pull the tirgger on the estimated $35 million dollar film after Anderson delivers the final script.

Hoffman, who has played supporting roles in most of Anderson's past films, including Boogie Nights,
Hard Eight, Punch-Drunk Love, and Magnolia, will take center screen in this new project as "The Master," a compelling intellectual/master of ceremonies who organizes a faith-based organization. The film tells the story of the Master and twentysomething Freddie, a wayward kid who winds up serving as Hoffman's lieutenant. As the organization grows, Feddie begins to question his choices and his faith in the Master.

It is speculated that the story is loosely inspired by the genesis of Scientology in the 1950s.

JoAnne Sellar, who has previously collaborated with Anderson produces.

Hoffman, a longtime member of the LAByrinth Theater Company, has appeared on Broadway in True West, and Long Day's Journey into Night, for which he received Tony nominations.  As a director, he has received Drama Desk recognition for Our Lady of 121st Street, and Jesus Hopped the A Train. His performance as Truman Capote in Capote (2005) earned him the Academy Award for Best Actor, the BAFTA Award for Best Actor in a Leading Role, the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor - Motion Picture Drama and the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role - Motion Picture. Subsequent roles in The Savages (2007) and Charlie Wilson's War (2007) were well received, and he was nominated for several acting awards for his work in Doubt (2008). Recently, he held a leading role in Richard Curtis's The Boat That Rocked as The Count.

Photo Credit: Linda Lenzi