By Through some odd sleuthing, World of Reel has a scoop on Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest; the hotly anticipated latest from the fan favorite Anderson, formerly known as Soggy Bottoms, is apparently titled Licorice Pizza. Y’know, after the food!
The tip comes from a Reddit post (bear with me…) on the Blank Check Podcast Subreddit, citing a screening held today at the Prince Charles Cinema in London. Not of a PTA flick, but rather a repertory showing of George Lucas’ early-career nostalgia-fest American Graffiti. At the show, Anderson appeared to introduce the film, which he selected, and debut a trailer for his next feature, which has been known to star Bradley Cooper and Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Licorice Pizza, as it were, has been reported to be a ’70s period piece set in California, with Bradley Cooper portraying a Hollywood director and Hoffman apparently a rising child actor. The film is apparently set to focus largely on Hoffman’s character, who remains in school while balancing his burgeoning acting career. Alana Haim of the band Haim and Uncut Gems director Benny Safdie are also set to appear.
The Reddit post alludes to some story details, hinting that Bradley Cooper’s character might be the real-life filmmaker Jon Peters, who worked as a California hairdresser before getting into film production, including producer credits on The Eyes of Laura Mars in 1978 and Tim Burton’s Batman.
“Licorice pizza,” as immediately-strange a phrase that may seem, would seem to make some sense when it’s considered that a popular Long Beach-based record store chain went by the name for many years. After all, doesn’t a 45 look an awful lot like a big pizza made of licorice? It’s also entirely possible that, even with this trailer now in the wild for a select audience, Anderson and company are pulling legs and having fun, with yet another title to be announced for a more formal reveal.
It’s been confirmed by United Artists that Anderson’s film, whether it ends up being called Licorice Pizza or some other fantastical menu item, is on track for a Christmas Day wide release. Between the erratic happenings at theaters during the pandemic and the surprise nature of Anderson’s releases, it’ll be a Christmas miracle if we get our slice on time. Fingers crossed!
Source: World of Reel