It's been five years since Paul Thomas Anderson's last film, the magnificent There Will Be Blood, so forgive me if The Master incites perhaps too much anticipation.  It's the latest movie from the writer-director of Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, and Hard Eight (aka Sydney) though, so yeah, excitement is entirely justified.  As to prove it, the first official footage from The Master has debuted online, and damn if it isn't every shade of promising.

Production on writer-director Paul Thomas Anderson's next film – his first since 2007's masterful There Will Be Blood – is set begin on June 13th, after a long gestation.  Indie producer/exalted savior of cool projects Megan Ellison is financing the as-yet untitled drama through her Annapurna Films, with the Weinstein Company distributing.  Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix are headlining the cast of the film formerly known as The Master, and now none other than three-time Oscar nominee and newly minted Lois Lane Amy Adams has joined the film, as well.

After Keanu Reeves declined to star in Akira last week, Warner Bros is going back to the drawing board with their live-action remake of Katsuhiro Otomo's 1988 anime opus, which Otomo himself adapted from his six-volume manga series.  They'll be doing so without director Albert Hughes, who Deadline reports is walking away from the ambitious science fiction project due to "amicable creative differences."  

Through their tenure at Miramax right up to The King's Speech, the Weinstein brothers have proven to exceedingly good at winning Oscars.  With incomparable films like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch Drunk Love, and There Will Be Blood, Paul Thomas Anderson has proven to be exceptionally good at making movies.  Perhaps these two skill sets will prove mutually beneficial, as the Weinstein Company has acquired Anderson's untitled next film for distribution, and it's set begin filming this summer with Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix confirmed in the lead roles.

Hot on the heels of the news of Hurt Locker star Anthony Mackie's casting in the Timur Bekmambetov-directed adaptation of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter as Lincoln's slaying sidekick Will, The Hollywood Reporter has news on the role of Henry Sturges, the self-loathing vampire who teaches young Abe how to properly dispose of vampires.  The part had reportedly been offered to Joaquin Phoenix, but apparently that didn't pan out, as British actor Dominic Cooper is set to play the part.

So apparently, in Seth Graham-Smith's novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, honest Abe has a vampire slaying sidekick in the form of his best friend Will.  The big screen version of Grahame-Smith's book, adapted into a screenplay by the author himself, is casting up under director Timur Bekmambetov (Wanted, Day Watch) and Deadline has word that Will is to be played by Anthony Mackie, who is probably most widely known for his role in The Hurt Locker. 

Last week, relative unknown Benjamin Walker was cast as the sixteenth president in 20^th Century Fox’s big budget adaptation of Seth Grahame-Smith’s novel Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, and now Deadline’s saying the studio has offered the big role of Lincoln’s vampire-slaying mentor to none other than Joaquin Phoenix, though it’s unknown whether the notoriously flighty actor will commit to the tentpole project.

Casey Affleck seems to be enjoying the controversy surrounding his latest feature, I’m Still Here. While the cat is officially out of the bag as we reported earlier, the story is not completely over.

This past Tuesday he appeared on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” where he told the host, "The movie comes out, the critics liked to say, 'This is crazy, this is disturbing, this is sick and we should be worried about him,’ but while it was happening, people were happy just to mock him."

Clint Eastwood’s latest directorial effort Hoover looks to be as potentially controversial as Gran Torino and even Mystic River. If rumors hold any weight, Eastwood is interested in exploring the personal life of J. Edgar Hoover, who was widely believed to be a homosexual cross-dresser behind closed doors. If Eastwood plans on traveling that avenue, we may all need to pray Hoover himself doesn’t somehow return in supernatural fashion to silence any of the films believers. After all, the man was known to destroy the lives and reputations of any who questioned his sexuality.

The trailer for Casey Affleck's incisive documentary and/or elaborate hoax about Joaquin Phoenix, I'm Still Here, has just gotten a brief but deep trailer. And by "deep", I mean it contains someone telling Phoenix that he's a drop of water on a mountaintop. Or something. It's really weird, that's for sure.