Production History (There Will Be Blood) There Will Be Blood

Anderson found the story in the first 150 pages of Upton Sinclair's novel

Screenwriter Eric Schlosser purchased the film rights to Upton Sinclair's 1927 novel Oil! in 2004. Paul Thomas Anderson, while in London, bought a copy of the novel, drawn to its cover illustration of a California oilfield. He adapted approximately the first 150 pages into a screenplay, focusing on the character of a ruthless oil prospector and discarding the novel's later sections about socialism and political organizing. Anderson changed the title because he felt "there's not enough of the book to feel like it's a proper adaptation." The character of Daniel Plainview drew on the life of oil baron Edward Doheny, on whom Sinclair had based elements of his novel. (wikipedia, cinephiliabeyond)

Anderson watched John Huston's The Treasure of the Sierra Madre nightly while writing, calling it a "lifesaver" that provided a structural model for tracking a prospector's moral collapse.

"The process begins and ends with the writing. If the script is good, directing can be easy." — Paul Thomas Anderson, IndieWire

Financing was difficult because studios saw no commercial model for the film

Producer JoAnne Sellar noted that securing financing took considerable effort because "the studios didn't think it had the scope of a major picture." After two years of development, Anderson secured backing from Ghoulardi Film Company, Paramount Vantage, and Miramax Films on a $25 million production budget. (wikipedia)

Day-Lewis was the only choice for Plainview

Anderson wrote the role specifically for Daniel Day-Lewis. Sellar suggested the film might not have been made if Day-Lewis had declined. Day-Lewis had admired Anderson's Punch-Drunk Love and was eager to collaborate. He received an incomplete script and immediately joined the production.

"I felt immediately drawn into the orbit of a world I knew nothing about." — Daniel Day-Lewis, Cinephilia & Beyond

Day-Lewis spent over a year developing Plainview's voice, consulting period documentaries and reading letters from historical oilfield workers. He drew vocal inspiration from recordings of John Huston. Costume designer Mark Bridges noted that Day-Lewis treated the character's hats as essential to his portrayal, taking three options home for three days before selecting one. Production designer Jack Fisk built a period-accurate room behind Day-Lewis's house in Marfa so the actor could immerse himself in the time period between shooting days. (alltherightmovies)

Paul Dano replaced a fired actor and took on two roles

Dano was originally cast only as Paul Sunday, with actor Kel O'Neill playing the twin brother Eli. After two weeks of filming, Anderson decided O'Neill's performance was not working and fired him. He asked Dano if he could play both Paul and Eli, restructuring the characters as twins. Dano agreed, entering the dual role with minimal preparation time opposite Day-Lewis's months of character work. (collider, alltherightmovies)

Anderson shot the film in Marfa, Texas because California no longer looked like 1900

Principal photography ran from June through September 2006. Although the film is set in California, Anderson and his location scouts could not find anywhere in California that still resembled the state at the turn of the twentieth century. They settled on a ranch near Marfa, Texas, where the crew could "stand on top of a hill and look around a 360-degree arc and not see a single structure, road or power line," as cinematographer Robert Elswit described it. Anderson shot the film largely in sequence, building most of the sets on the ranch. (moviemaker, wikipedia)

"There was a place where they could stand on top of a hill and look around a 360-degree arc and not see a single structure, road or power line." — Robert Elswit, MovieMaker

The opening mine sequences were filmed at the Presidio mine in Shafter, Texas — a town with only eleven residents at the time of filming. Day-Lewis broke a rib during the mineshaft scenes, prompting Anderson to remark: "Now we're making the movie." (alltherightmovies)

Fisk built Little Boston from the ground up

Production designer Jack Fisk constructed the town of Little Boston on the Texas ranch. Fisk had roughly fifty carpenters building the town, and he and Anderson approached the process collaboratively, placing sticks in the ground to mark building locations and running around the desert figuring out the story through physical space. Fisk drew inspiration from how Marfa itself was built parallel to the railroad tracks. Anderson had done extensive research while writing the script and shared it with Fisk, so both came to the project with the same historical foundation. (alltherightmovies)

Elswit shot in anamorphic widescreen with vintage lenses

This was Elswit's fifth collaboration with Anderson, following Hard Eight, Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and Punch-Drunk Love. They used Panavision XL 35mm cameras with anamorphic lenses — every film they had made together since Hard Eight had been anamorphic, because Anderson preferred the look. For certain scenes, Anderson used a 1910 Pathe camera lens to achieve a period aesthetic. Elswit described the vintage optics: "There were chromatic aberrations at the edges of the image circle and huge color shifts, but it was reasonably sharp." Interior scenes were lit to simulate oil lanterns and candles. (moviemaker, alltherightmovies)

The oil derrick explosion was the most dangerous sequence

Elswit described the derrick fire as "a nightmare." It was the only fully storyboarded scene in the film, requiring military-precision planning. The fire burned hotter than anticipated and could not be controlled. The derrick collapsed before all desired shots were captured — notably missing was a planned 200-foot overhead angle. The smoke was visible for miles, forcing the Coen Brothers' No Country for Old Men crew, shooting nearby, to shut down production for a day. (alltherightmovies)

Greenwood composed the score as a horror film soundtrack

Jonny Greenwood, guitarist of Radiohead, composed the score after Anderson heard his orchestral piece "Popcorn Superhet Receiver" while writing the screenplay. Greenwood had never scored a feature film in this way before. Anderson sent him the finished film and gave him three weeks to compose. Greenwood recorded at Abbey Road Studios in London, using strings, piano, and an eighty-piece orchestra — no computers or electronic instruments.

"Sometimes Paul would describe it as close to the horror genre. We talked about how The Shining had lots of Penderecki in it. We figured the instruments should be contemporary to the turn of the last century, but not period music." — Jonny Greenwood, Entertainment Weekly / Nonesuch

Greenwood composed hours of material; thirty-three minutes made the final cut. His score was ruled ineligible for the Academy Award for Best Original Score because portions had been previously used in a documentary, though this ruling was widely criticized. (alltherightmovies, wikipedia)

Tichenor and Anderson cut the film as a slow-burn horror picture

Editor Dylan Tichenor, in his third collaboration with Anderson, approached the editing with deliberate restraint. He and Anderson treated the film like a horror picture, using long takes and minimal cutting to build dread.

"We approached it like a horror film, employing gothic shot framing and trying to build tension without a lot of cuts." — Dylan Tichenor, No Film School

"The cuts that are more nerve-wracking to me are the slower, quieter ones. There's a big spotlight on, 'Now I'm changing perspective; now I'm showing you something else.'" — Dylan Tichenor, No Film School

For the derrick explosion, Tichenor constructed additional angles by punching into different takes, using repeated action cuts to add velocity where coverage was limited. He also pushed Anderson for more reaction shots of H.W. throughout the film, recognizing that the boy's perspective was essential for maintaining audience empathy with an otherwise repellent protagonist. (nofilmschool)

The bowling alley finale was shot at Greystone Mansion

The film's climactic sequence was shot in the two-lane bowling alley at Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills. Elswit persuaded Anderson to abandon his original concept of an all-white bowling alley, arguing it would limit dramatic lighting possibilities. The revised design created a more menacing atmosphere for the scene where Plainview murders Eli. (alltherightmovies)