Since he dropped out of Disney’s “Oz, the Great and Powerful,” Robert Downey Jr. is looking to fill the gap in his schedule with a starring role in Paul Thomas Anderson’s next project, “Inherent Vice.”

Anderson had originally started to develop “The Master,” a Philip Seymour Hoffman vehicle exploring the inner workings of a fictional religious organization with similarities to Scientology. But funding has stalled on that project and so the “There Will Be Blood” director has turned his attention to adapting the 2009 Thomas Pynchon novel “Inherent Vice.”

“Vice” centers on a stoner detective who gets tangled up in a string of mysteries in 1969 L.A. while the Manson Family trial plays out in the background.

Downey, who has reportedly become seriously committed to the role, will likely shoot the film later this year after he shoots “The Avengers” for Marvel and Disney.