The first trailer for Paul Thomas Anderson's Licorice Pizza has been shared online. Licorice Pizza will be Anderson's first feature directorial effort since 2017's Best Picture Oscar Nominee, Phantom Thread. Anderson also penned the script for Licorice Pizza, led by relative unknowns in the lead roles, with a stellar cast rounding out the film. Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, makes his acting debut in the movie, joined by Alana Haim, best known as part of the band Haim. The remaining cast includes Bradley Cooper, Ben Stiller, Sean Penn, John C. Reilly, Tom Waits, and Maya Rudolph.
Licorice Pizza is set in the San Fernando Valley in the 1970s. The plot follows a high school student (Hoffman), who also happens to be a successful child actor. The film looks like a coming-of-age drama that will see a young man stepping out of his comfort zone to pursue his first love. While the official synopsis is still vague, the first trailer has shed more light on the film.
The trailer for Licorice Pizza, which MGM shared on YouTube, plays like a love letter to the '70s. First, it briefly introduces our protagonist Gary (Hoffman) as he falls for Haim's character, Alana. The trailer then swells with the sounds of David Bowie's Life on Mars as it lays out the struggles they endure throughout the film. Check out the trailer below:
Click here to view the trailer on YouTube.
While numerous details about Licorice Pizza are still under wraps, Anderson looks to have pulled from various sources of inspiration. Anderson resides in the San Fernando Valley, making it an area with which he is familiar. He also directed numerous videos for Haim, which seemingly inspired him to cast Alana Haim in one of the leads. Anderson previously worked with Philip Seymour Hoffman on Boogie Nights and Punch-Drunk Love, so while this is Cooper Hoffman's acting debut, Anderson likely knew him from his personal life. Even Rudolph appearing in the film stems from her 20-year relationship with Anderson.
The film is also set in the '70s, which seems to be an era that Anderson loves to revisit. Previous films from Anderson, Boogie Nights, and Inherent Vice have taken place during the period. Licorice Pizza even dabbles in the film industry of the time, and it seems to bring real-life people into the story, as Cooper's character mentions his girlfriend is Barbara Streisand. Further details are likely to be forthcoming as Licorice Pizza nears its current release date of November 26th.
Source: MGM