Sean Penn in talks for Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Inherent Vice'

Paul Thomas Anderson has always had a fondness for films with really big ensembles, and he's typically done a great job at giving every character a unique voice and their moment to shine. So along those lines he makes for the perfect guy to direct an adaptation of Thomas Pynchon's Inherent Vice, which has nearly two dozen quirky characters as part of the detective yarn. The cast he's assembled thus far is mighty impressive, but the potential addition of Sean Penn would be the biggest signing yet.

Penn is in talks for an undisclosed role in the 1960s crime film, which has Joaquin Phoenix, Owen Wilson, Reese Witherspoon, Jena Malone, Benicio Del Toro, Martin Short, and Kevin O'Connor already attached in various parts. Anderson and Penn have been trying to work together for awhile, with the actor once circling the Dean Trumbell role in Punch Drunk Love that ultimately went to Philip Seymour Hoffman.

This would be a nice change of pace for Penn, who is probably trying to get as far away from Gangster Squad as possible. There have been no official announcements about any of the proposed cast at this point, so we'll have to wait for a press release to get confirmations. That should happen not long before filming begins this fall. [Cigarettes & Red Vines]