Deadline reports that Robert Downey Jr. is interested in Paul Thomas Anderson's (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood) adaptation of the novel
Inherent Vice by Thomas Pynchon. The film follows Larry "Doc" Sportello, a private eye based in Los Angeles in the late 1960s. He's a believer in the psychedelic free-love era, and his case involves an ex-girlfriend, her real estate billionaire boyfriend and a kidnapping.
This news means it's not looking good for Anderson's Scientology drama The Master. That project had some interest from Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeremy Renner and Reese Witherspoon. It's likely the touchy subject of Scientology could have been too controversial for Paramount. Anyhow, I'm on board for anything Anderson wants to make. Yet this new project sounds slightly more interesting to me.
While Vice might be next for Anderson, Downey has a few commitments with Marvel first. He'll be shooting Avengers in April and for most of the the summer. I expect it will be less of a workload than Iron Man 3 which could shoot during or after Avengers. There has been lots of reports of Downey being interested in projects but ending up turning them down. Just a few include Gravity and Oz, The Great & Powerful. It sounds promising seeing these two work together but nothing is for sure yet.
