Philip Seymour Hoffman's son Cooper to lead new Paul Thomas Anderson movie

Cooper Hoffman, the son of the late Philip Seymour Hoffman, is to play the lead in Paul Thomas Anderson's forthcoming movie.

The so-far untitled coming-of-age film is to be set in the 70s, and will centre on a fictional child actor, to be played by the 17-year-old Hoffman in his screen debut.

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Anderson has penned the movie, which will be filmed in and around the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, a frequent backdrop for Anderson's films, and will feature multiple storylines, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Seymour Hoffman and Anderson were long-time collaborators, right up to his tragic death from an overdose in 2014.

Their first project together was the gambling drama Hard Eight, Anderson's debut feature, in 1996.

He then went on to star in hits like Boogie Nights, Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love and The Master in 2012, in which he played the charismatic leader of a religious movement opposite Joaquin Phoenix.

Hoffman was nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar for the role.

Alongside Cooper Hoffman on the cast of the new Anderson project will be Bradley Cooper and Alana Haim, from the band Haim, for whom Anderson has directed a number of music videos.

Director and writer Bennie Safdie, one half of the Safdie brothers, the makers of celebrated movies like Good Time and Uncut Gems, will also have a role in the movie.