Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master Moves to September; Killing Them Softly to October
Posted 07.29.12 by Ryan
If seeing the recently released first trailer for director Paul Thomas Anderson's (There Will Be Blood) upcoming drama The Master got you excited to see the movie, you now have a month less to wait. Originally set for release on Oct. 12, The Weinstein Co. has moved The Master's opening to Sept. 14 in Los Angeles and New York before opening nationwide on Sept. 21. THR reports that the movie could premiere at the Toronto Film Festival, which starts Sept. 6.
In order to facilitate the move, The Weinstein Co. has moved the Brad Pitt-starring thriller Killing Them Softly (formerly Cogan's Trade) from September 21 to October 19. The moves will likely be seen as a way to take advantage of the publicity surround the divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes, as The Master is clearly based on Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, but Harvey Weinstein wouldn't admit to a Scientology connection in the movie during an interview with The Huffington Post.
"Paul says to me the movie is about a journey for soldiers after World War II — my own dad was one of those guys — and, you know, one of the things that happens to this soldier is he goes to a cult," Weinstein told the site. "Look, I mean, whatever, people are going to draw their own conclusions, and right now there are heated conclusions, and the Tom and Katie situation has exacerbated that. It’s going to be a controversial movie. But it’s a tour de force. I hope what doesn’t get lost is how wonderful the filmmaking is."
In The Master, Joaquin Phoenix stars as a lonely drifter who meets Lancaster Dodd (Philip Seymour Hoffman), the intellectual leader of the faith-based organization, and eventually becomes Dodd's right hand man. Amy Adams co-stars as Dodd's wife Mary Sue, likely named after Hubbard's third wife, Mary Sue Hubbard. Reportedly, Cruise has "issues" with the movie.
Killing Them Softly follows Pitt as a reluctant hitman hired by mobsters to investigate the theft of a mob-protected card game. Andrew Dominik (The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford) directed the movie, which co-stars Ray Liotta, Richard Jenkins and James Gandolfini.