Joaquin Phoenix, whose work in Paul Thomas Anderson's The Master earned him an Oscar nomination for best actor, is in talks to reunite with director for his latest film, Inherent Vice.
Robert Downey Jr. was originally attached as leading man for the film, but it seems like Phoenix will step into the shoes of P.I. Larry ‘Doc' Sportello. Charlize Theron has also previously been linked to adaptation of the 2009 Thomas Pynchon novel. Meanwhile, none of the latest reports seem to mention her.
Anderso,n who has been working on Vice for a few years, wrote the screenplay based on the novel, which is set in 1969 Los Angeles and centers on a pot-smoking detective Sportello on a kidnapping case.
The film would reportedly mark Anderson's first venture into black comedy and would also mark Phoenix's first comedic turn after trying his hand at 1995 dark comedy film, made in a mockumentary format, directed by Gus Van Sant and starring Nicole Kidman.
This matches up with what Anderson described, a while back, as being
like a Cheech and Chong movie. (Adapting Pychon's work is) just gonna be great and, hopefully, fun.
Anderson also said last month that he hoped to shoot by the end of 2013.
Stay tuned.
