Bradley Cooper is in talks to star in Paul Thomas Anderson’s next film, a currently untitled coming-of-age drama, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Set in a San Fernando Valley high school in the 1970s, Anderson hopes to shoot the film this year, subject to COVID-19 shooting protocols.
This film was one of the 13 titles eligible for the California tax credit from the Film Commission of California, which reports that it will shoot in Ventura County and is an indie being developed by Anderson’s Ghoulardi Film Company.
Some of Anderson’s breakout films, including “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia” and “Punch-Drunk Love,” were all also set in the San Fernando Valley, with “Boogie Nights” playing on ’70s nostalgia and the burgeoning pornography industry in the 260 square miles just north of Los Angeles.
Anderson’s last feature, the 2017 historical drama “Phantom Thread,” was set within the 1950’s British fashion world and starred Daniel Day-Lewis. The film was nominated for six Oscars, including Best Picture. This year, Anderson also directed a Netflix short film called “Anima” in conjunction with Radiohead frontman Thom Yorke’s solo album and music videos for the pop-rock band Haim.
Cooper will next resume production on Guillermo del Toro’s “Nightmare Alley,” which was shut down during filming due to the pandemic. He also is set to star in, direct and produce an untitled biopic for Netflix about “West Side Story” composer Leonard Bernstein.
Cooper is repped by CAA.
