Paul Thomas Anderson Screened Scientology-Inspired THE MASTER For Tom Cruise

While I don't bow at the feet of Paul Thomas Anderson like many of my fellow film journalists out there, I freely admit that the guy makes excellent films and, in retrospect, There Will Be Blood probably deserved the Oscar over No Country For Old Men back in 2008. (But let's not get into THAT whole argument again.)

Anderson's next film, The Master, is said to be inspired by L. Ron Hubbard and the creation of Scientology as a religion. In the movie, Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the creator of his own religion, and his character reportedly bears many similarities to Hubbard. Anderson, who worked with famous Scientologist Tom Cruise on 1999's Magnolia, decided to show Cruise an early cut of the film, presumably to gauge his reaction since the Church of Scientology has been, shall we say, a bit wary of the film.

The Wrap reports that Cruise "had issues" with some parts of the film, and I've been hearing some speculation elsewhere that suggests Anderson may actually edit the movie in order to fix those "issues." For the record, I think that's ridiculous and I doubt very seriously that Anderson is going to make any changes at all; the very fact that he pulled Cruise aside and screened the movie for him early was a classy and respectful move, but it wasn't necessary. He's a filmmaker, and he can make whatever movie he wants, especially with producer Megan Ellison funding the whole movie out of her own pocket with no studio interference.

The Church of Scientology certainly has a powerful influence on Hollywood, but when they start altering movies to better fit their viewpoints or to not offend certain people, then we're getting dangerously close to a society that might not be worth living in. Again, I'm not saying that this is happening (or even that The Wrap said this could happen, which they didn't) - I'm just reacting to whispers I've heard today and reacting strictly to those.

Are you looking forward to seeing The Master?