Cooper Hoffman, son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, is front and center in Anderson’s coming-of-age movie.
The first trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson’s “Licorice Pizza” has arrived online after 35mm prints of the footage screened at exclusive venues such as the Quentin Tarantino-owned New Beverly in Los Angeles earlier this month. The film, previously thought to be titled “Soggy Bottom,” marks Anderson’s follow-up to six-time Oscar nominee “Phantom Thread.” That film earned Anderson his second Best Director nomination along with “There Will Be Blood.” What does the filmmaker have planned for his return? Another trip to the 1970s San Fernando Valley setting that was featured in his breakthrough “Boogie Nights.”
For his latest, Anderson has rounded up an ensemble cast that includes Bradley Cooper, Benny Safdie, Alana Haim, and Cooper Hoffman, son of the late actor and frequent Anderson collaborator Philip Seymour Hoffman. Cooper is playing Jon Peters, the real-life Hollywood film producer whose credits included Barbra Streisand’s “A Star Is Born” (ironic, considering Cooper directed and starred in his own “A Star Is Born”). Hoffman is the lead, a teen actor navigating high school life who befriends Peters. The supporting cast includes Skyler Gisondo, Maya Rudolph, and Tom Waits, among others.
Anderson shot the majority of his new movie in Los Angeles last fall during the pandemic. Early reports on the project described it as a 1970s-set ensemble drama set in the San Fernando Valley (think “Magnolia” in the setting of “Boogie Nights”). “Licorice Pizza” will mark Anderson’s ninth feature. His previous directorial efforts include “Hard Eight,” “Boogie Nights,” “Magnolia,” “Punch-Drunk Love,” “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master,” “Inherent Vice,” and “Phantom Thread.” The latter title was distributed by Focus Features and started its platform release during the Christmas holiday.
With a holiday season platform release, Anderson’s ninth feature joins United Artists/MGM’s robust fall movie slate. The distribution arm of MGM also has the long-delayed James Bond tentpole “No Time to Die” on the release calendar for October 8, plus Ridley Scott’s “House of Gucci,” starring Adam Driver and Lady Gaga, set for November 24.
MGM (via United Artists) will open “Licorice Pizza” in limited release November 26. The drama will reach its nationwide expansion December 25. Watch the first trailer for Anderson’s latest in the video below.
Sign Up: Stay on top of the latest breaking film and TV news! Sign up for our Email Newsletters here.