Paul Thomas Anderson Sets 1970s High School Movie for 2020 Production

The untitled project, centered on a high school student, is planning to go into production next year.

Paul Thomas Anderson is returning to his San Fernando Valley roots to make a new film set in the 1970s, The Hollywood Reporter has learned.

The untitled film will be centered on a high school student who is also a successful child actor. Anderson will write, direct and produce the project through his Ghoulardi Film Company banner. Sources say casting is underway to find the lead and the project features a multitude of roles and could be ensemble in nature or have intersecting storylines.

Sources say Anderson's project, named in the California Film Commission's list of 13 films shooting in the state next year, is planning to go into production in February 2020. Representatives for Anderson declined to comment.

Three of Anderson's previous films — 1997's Boogie Nights, 1999's Magnolia and 2002's Punch-Drunk Love — are set in the San Fernando Valley, the northern stretch of Los Angeles that encompasses communities such as Sherman Oaks, Encino, Tarzana, and is the area where the filmmaker grew up.

Anderson's last film, 2017's period drama Phantom Thread, set within the couture industry in 1950s London, was the first time the filmmaker made a movie outside of the U.S. The movie was nominated for six Oscars, winning for costume design.