For a couple of years now, Paul Thomas Anderson has been attempting to adapt Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice – indeed he originally wanted to make it before The Master. He’s already got Robert Downey Jr. attached to the male lead, and now Showbiz411 reports that he may have found a female lead, Charlize Theron.

Pynchon’s novel tells the story of a stoner PI (Downey Jr.) in 1969 Los Angeles who gets mixed up in a series of mysteries while the Manson Family murder trail plays out in the background. There’s no news on exactly who Theron will play, but it’s likely to be either the PI’s ex-girlfriend, who is now dallying with a big-name real estate mogul, or the mogul’s wife (which seems more likely).

There’s no news on exactly when it might shoot, but hopefully PTA will get round to it soon and we won’t have another seven year gap, like there was between There Will Be Blood and The Master.