Two possibilities, as far as I can see:

1. There's some sort of spectacular high concept and/or series of big action set-pieces that got Warner Bros thinking this will set the box office alight

2. Zaslav greenlit PTA's ambitious and expensive but uncommercial project (the equivalent of something like Alexander Payne's Downsizing) because he wants Warner Bros to look like a juicy acquisition to potential buyers, even though no one really expects it to be a runaway hit

I'm leaning towards option 2...

so it seems pta did rewrites for napoleon :
https://theplaylist.net/joaquin-phoenix-demanded-paul-thomas-anderson-rewrite-napoleon-script-before-production-20240814/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

and we never heard about that before. so yeah, he seems to be a very discreet script doctor for A+ productions.

https://x.com/TheInSneider/status/1823752920271348047

sneider, who also broke the title, seems to have good sources on this one. and so it does seem the budget is at least 150m. who would have thought pta would ever get such a budget ? and for what kind of movie ? seems insane.

Quote from: WorldForgot on August 12, 2024, 02:59:41 PMwill have some Salo in it too

Line 14


Heures à l'usage de Rome
Paris : Par Philippe Pigouchet.
M.CCCC.iiii.vv.c.viiii.
Photo by Scrooby

Just for yuks, since S/Z is visible in Magnolia :

Baktan recalls Mikhail Bakhtin, a darling of university English departments back in the early 1990s.


Coincidental congruence



Medieval French

tans : noun; oblique singular <tens, tans> time

Ancient Mayan

tun : period of 360 days

Salo theme playing while the cross comes up in H8teful Eight
Surely BC Project will have some Salo in it too

Old news.



"ancient Maya bak'tun < bak'-, apparently a multiplier (only attested in calendars) + tun period of 360 days."

"baktun typically occurs about 0.02 times per million words in modern written English."



The Battle of Baktan Cross = How long, Lord? How long?

Hol ly wood !

Apropos of zilch, BaktanCross.com and BaktinCross.com are both available-to-buy URLs at the moment. First year is only a penny!

(BattleOfBaktanCross.com -- that's a mouthful -- is currently taken, though)

Batman Cross, I say!

At Auction : Lot 1109: MAGNOLIA (1999) - Dr. Landon's (Don McManus) Business Card with Earl Partridge's (Jason Robards) Planner and Mail



MAGNOLIA (1999) - Dr. Landon's (Don McManus) Business Card with Earl Partridge's (Jason Robards) Planner and Mail - Dr. Landon's (Don McManus) business card with Earl Partridge's (Jason Robards) planner and mail from Paul Thomas Anderson's Magnolia. Linda Partridge (Julianne Moore) visited Dr. Landon for advice on how to handle her husband Earl's death while Earl's nurse Phil Parma (Philip Seymour Hoffman) went through Earl's planner in search of his son Frank T.J. Mackey (Tom Cruise).

This lot consists of one cardstock business card for Dr. Landon; a brown leather bound Day-Timer planner embossed "EEP" with a matching close strap filled with handwritten notes and addresses; a black metal pen; and five paper letters addressed to Earl. Included with this lot is a "MAGNOLIA PROJEC " [sic] production envelope. This lot exhibits separating leather on the planner's cover, as well as discoloration. Dimensions: (largest) 5.5" x 8" x 1.5" (14 cm x 20.5 cm x 4 cm)

https://www.invaluable.com/auction-lot/magnolia-1999-dr-landons-don-mcmanus-business-car-1109-c-b484229a8d?objectID=190396876&algIndex=upcoming_lots_prod&queryID=0f2d3c97924d1d1c2783f6d14e3cc7c9