Warner Bros. crime drama ‘Inherent Vice’ starts filming in L.A.

‘Inherent Vice,’ a star-studded film from director Paul Thomas Anderson, has started production in Los Angeles.

The Warner Bros. crime drama, adapted from a Thomas Pynchon novel, is set in L.A. in the late 1960s.

The movie, expected to be released sometime next year, centers around drug-hazed detective Larry “Doc” Sportello, played by Joaquin Phoenix, who investigates the disappearance of an ex-girlfriend. Other stars include Owen Wilson, Josh Brolin, Benicio Del Toro, Reese Witherspoon and Martin Short.

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The crew from ‘Inherent Vice’ recently has been filming at various locations in the San Fernando Valley, and on Monday filmed at a storefront on West Slauson Avenue, according to permits handled by FilmL.A. Inc. The movie is expected to film in about 40 locations in the L.A. area.

Other movies that have been filming locally this quarter include the sequel to “The Human Centipede” horror franchise, the Seth Rogen comedy “Townies” from Universal Pictures, and Marvel Studios’ “Captain America: The Winter Soldier.”

Location filming for feature films is up 7% in the last two months compared with the same period a year ago, while television activity is up 28% and production of commercials is 13% higher, according to a Los Angeles Times analysis of permit data from FilmL.A.

The data track location shoots for productions filming on streets or non-certified sound stages in the city and county.

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