Jonny Greenwood: Paul Thomas Anderson Emailing Me About a Couple ‘Peculiar’ New Projects
Zack Sharf
Jonny Greenwood and Paul Thomas Anderson are one of the most beloved composer-director pairings working today following collaborations on “There Will Be Blood,” “The Master,” “Inherent Vice,” and “Phantom Thread.” The latter earned the Radiohead band member his first Oscar nomination for Best Original Score. While there has yet to be confirmation about Greenwood scoring Anderson’s upcoming new movie, which still is without an official title, it seems like the two will be continuing their collaboration into the future.
“I’m getting annoying emails from Paul Thomas Anderson about a couple of potential projects!” Greenwood recently told NME (via The Film Stage). “They sound really interesting and peculiar, so I’m thinking about those while I wander around. I really enjoy the thinking time of music, drifting off and wondering how to describe in music what [Paul Thomas Anderson] is talking about. It’s very self-indulgent, but really fun. I’m an extremely lucky man.”
Even if Greenwood is not scoring Anderson’s new movie (working title “Soggy Bottom”), the composer is still set for a massive 2021 thanks to his work on three upcoming new films: Jane Campion’s “The Power of the Dog,” Pablo Larraín’s “Spencer,” and Jennifer Peedom’s “River.” All three movies just screened at the Telluride Film Festival, while “Power of the Dog” and “Spencer” were first unveiled at the Venice Film Festival. Several reviews have jump-started Oscar buzz for Greenwood’s work on “Dog” and “Spencer.”
Greenwood and Anderson have been working together for over a decade, with the composer recently choosing the track “Alethia” from “The Master” as his favorite bit of music he’s composed for a PTA movie.
“He’s the whole package — scripts, cinematography, storytelling, humor, romance, oddness, and genuity,” Greenwood said of Anderson in Adam Nayman’s book, “Paul Thomas Anderson: Masterworks.” “There’s no one like him: Perhaps there’s people who do the individual skills as well — or better— but no one has the full deck like Paul. I’m glad he’s terrible at playing musical instruments; there’s a job left for me.”
As for Anderson’s latest, MGM is behind the movie and will release the film in select theaters November 26 before expanding the film nationwide on Christmas. The cast includes Bradley Cooper, Cooper Hoffman (son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman), Alana Haim, Skyler Gisondo, and Benny Safdie.
