Paul Thomas Anderson movie with Joaquin Phoenix and Philip Seymour Hoffman takes on Scientology?

(HMG Celebrity News) – Here’s a movie that will get lots of publicity just on its subject matter.   Oscar-nominated writer/director Paul Thomas Anderson, whose biggest hits include “Boogie Nights,” “Punch-Drunk Love” and “There Will Be Blood” has had a  script up for bid that takes an uncomfortable look at the Church of Scientology.

Deadline reports that the Weinstein Company bought worldwide distribution rights to Anderson’s proposed film, following a multi-studio bidding war.

The film which begins shooting in June, will star Philip Seymour Hoffman as a man who creates a religion in 1952, and Joaquin Phoenix as his second in command.

The film once under the working title, “The Master,” but now unnamed,  is a long time coming. According to Variety, the first iteration centered on the relationship between The Master (Hoffman’s character) and Freddie (the lieutenant, to be played by Phoenix. “As the faith begins to gain a fervent following, Freddie finds himself questioning the belief system he has embraced, and his mentor,” the industry daily reported.

The revised script has Hoffman returning from the horrors of WW II and struggling to find himself, before creating a religion the 50′s, which, according to Deadline, “catches on with other lost souls.”

L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, served in the Navy in World War II, and following his post-war release from the hospital, founded the belief system in 1952.

It is unclear if Anderson’s critical take has been now broadened to organized religion in general or still limiting his focus to the Church of Scientology.