Here it is. The trailer for Wes Anderson’s “Asteroid City” has been released.
You’ll be getting some people complaining that Anderson just keeps repeating himself with every new movie he releases, but they’d be missing the point.
Would people also be complaining today about John Ford only making Westerns? Probably, but they’d also be calling him a racist and that is a topic for a whole other story.
This is Anderson’s stamp. Watching the trailer, without having any idea about who directed it, you’d still know it was a Wes Anderson film. His unique style is all over this one, and I’m not complaining. The trailer contains the meticulous attention to detail that we expect from Anderson, but set in the 1950s.
The film is said to contain stop-motion animation. So will his other 2023 film, Netflix’s “The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar,” that one’s set for a fall release.
Does “Asteroid City” look like it’ll be an essential Anderson? I don’t know. As it stands, his best films have been “Rushmore,” “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
Also, notice how it says “This Film Has Not Yet Been Rated.” Last we heard about “Asteroid City,” it had been given an R for “Brief Graphic Nudity.” Focus decided to appeal the MPAA designation. The aim is PG-13.
Last year, Focus Features bought “Asteroid City” for domestic distribution. They released an ambiguous synopsis in the process, but now we have a new, more-detailed synopsis:
Thousands of years ago an asteroid fell from the sky, creating a huge crater, in the centercentre of which a piece of asteroid rock remains. Once a year, a convention is held on the site, attracting astronomers, teachers, familes with would-be teenage astronomers – as well as military personel personnel. As the stars begin to align, events occur which are startling, and completely unexpected. This is Anderson at his comic best; it is also suffused with the grief caused by the death of the mother of one of the families – giving the film a profound emotional impact.
The star-studded cast features Tom Hanks and Margot Robbie in their Anderson film debuts, plus Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Ed Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, Grace Edwards, Aristou Meehan, Sophia Lillis, Ethan Lee, Jeff Goldblum and Rita Wilson.
“Asteroid City,” which wrapped production last October, and will be released June 23rd. A Cannes premiere is practically sealed for this one.
Remember when, back in August, we learned “The Further Mis-Adventures of Cliff Booth” would be playing in only around 350 U.S. theaters, "maybe fewer"? Well, it's fewer. A lot fewer.