Local Whitby gazette spots Daniel Day-Lewis and Paul Thomas Anderson shooting their new film

Life moves at a slower pace in the seaside Yorkshire town of Whitby, with headlines on the Whitby Gazette homepage at the time of writing including ‘My Yorkshire-themed dish in battle for Golden Apron’ and ‘Five things we learned from Workington v Whitby Town’.

It must have come as a surprise, then, when a reporter from the local paper stumbled upon shooting for one of the most highly-anticipated films out there.

The Whitby Gazette was the unlikely publication with the scoop that principal photography is now underway for Paul Thomas Anderson's as-yet-untitled new film (bunch of pics here).

This project is a BIG DEAL, not only because it sees Anderson and Day-Lewis reunite for the first time since There Will Be Blood but because DDL hasn’t actually made a movie since 2012’s Lincoln.

(Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)
(Moviestore/REX/Shutterstock)

We know next to nothing about the plot yet, but it will be very different from 19th-century oil-prospecting in New Mexico, being set in the fashion/couture world in London in the 1950s.

Universal and Focus Features are behind it, reportedly winning the deal after a fierce bidding war with Fox Searchlight. The movie has a $35 million budget, PTA’s biggest since Magnolia ($37m).

According to Focus, the as-yet-untitled new film will see Anderson 'once again explore a distinctive and surging milieu of the 20th century through the new movie – the couture world of 1950s London.'

“Paul Thomas Anderson is a singular storyteller who has the ability to mesmerize audiences by creating complex and fascinating characters," Focus chairman Peter Kujawski commented.

"It is our privilege to bring Daniel Day-Lewis’ reteaming with Paul to movie lovers who have long hoped for their reunion.”