By After some sneaky special showings at select theaters, the first trailer for Licorice Pizza, Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film following 2017’s Phantom Thread, is here, and it’s a good day to be a movie nerd.
In typical PTA fashion, Pizza looks to be a tableau of a time and a place. California in the ’70s is something no doubt intrinsic to Anderson, born at the start of the decade close to Hollywood and having explored the West Coast through various lenses across his many films. With a cast including Cooper Hoffman–son of the late great PTA-collaborator Philip Seymour–and Bradley Cooper, Licorice Pizza’s trailer looks like everything from a slice-of-life to a coming-of-age story, waxing nostalgic while feeling eminently fresh and exciting.
Pizza features characters at all sorts of crossroads, with Bradley Cooper playing real-life Hollywood producer Jon Peters, and Hoffman a young actor balancing the many complications of school, the film industry, and, well, growing up. How it all shakes out is anybody’s guess. Lot of great looking cars, that’s for sure.
With a cast including Alana Haim, Maya Rudolph, John C Reilly, Ben Stiller, and Tom Waits, it’s a star-studded but tightly-knit cast of Paul Thomas Anderson regulars, making Licorice Pizza‘s trailer feel particularly like a nice homecoming.
Still something of a mystery, even after seeing it in action, a fresh poster’s also been unrolled for the new PTA. I need me a pair of plum pants like those!
Set for a limited theatrical release beginning November 26th, Licorice Pizza will later expand its release Christmas Day. 2021 seems like the appropriate year to have a hot pie for either Thanksgiving feast or Christmas dinner.