“SCIENTOLOGY” INSPIRED MOVIE RESURRECTED WITH JOAQUIN PHOENIX
Back in March we told you about Jeremy Renner dropping out of “The Master” – a movie loosely based on L Ron Hubbard and Scientology, to take a job in Tom Cruise’s “Mission Impossible IV.” Universal dropped the project for mysterious reasons (Scientology pressure?) but now, according to Deadline.com, the Paul Thomas Anderson (“There Will Be Blood”) script has gotten financing and been snapped up by The Weinstein Company and will proceed with Joaquin Phoenix in the Renner role. The original now-untitled script has been extensively rewritten for some reason (Scientology threats?) Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the ambitious self-help “guru” and Phoenix plays his ardent follower. (Ironically, Phoenix was raised by his family in the Children of God religious cult.)