According to Indiewire Paul Thomas Anderson has decided to be his own cinematographer for his upcoming movie "Phantom Thread." PTA has been itching on being a DP for years, something he did regularly in hs music video days. The venerable director has always been creatively involved with his DP's in past films, even sometimes taking over photography duties for specific shots or scenes.
At the moment, there are are no stills and no trailers to the film. There are rumors the film is currently cut at a running time of 195 minutes and that the goal is to trim it down to 165 or so minutes. I recently spoke to someone close to production that said that this is the better, more mature and artful version of "Fifty Shades of Grey," to which I politely responded "WTF!?"
Some are speculating that the film won't even be released this year. Say it ain't so Joe. I'm fairly confident we will see the film before year's end, but all the secretive maneouevring on PTA and the studio's part is frustrating to say the least.
The official synopsis is also scant and minimal -
"Continuing their creative collaboration following 2007’s There Will Be Blood, three-time Academy Award winner Daniel Day-Lewis stars in Phantom Thread from Paul Thomas Anderson. The writer/director will once again explore a distinctive milieu of the 20th century. The new movie is a drama set in the couture world of 1950s London. The story illuminates the life behind the curtain of an uncompromising dressmaker commissioned by royalty and high society."
“Phantom Thread” opens on December 25th.