Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” has been picked up by Focus Features. A limited release of May 30 has been set up with a wide expansion on June 6. A Cannes premiere is now inevitably going to happen for the film.
If we initially expected Wes Anderson’s next film to have a smaller cast, then we’ve been proven wrong. The cast includes Benicio Del Toro, Michael Cera, Bill Murray, Mia Threapleton, Riz Ahmed, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Willem Dafoe, Rupert Friend, Benedict Cumberbatch. Charlotte Gainsbourg, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston and Hope Davis.
The film, which wrapped production in June 2024, is said to be planted in the “espionage” genre, tackling a father-daughter relationship. Anderson’s go-to DP, Robert Yeoman, is sitting this one out, instead we have great cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel lensing ‘Phoenician.’
Roman Coppola is being credited as co-writer on the project. This isn’t the first time Coppola has partnered with Anderson — he also co-wrote “The Darjeeling Limited” and “Moonrise Kingdom.” The script for “The Phoenician Scheme” is said to have been written around the time of those films, in the late aughts.
Anderson is coming off 2023’s “Asteroid City.” He also won an Oscar last year for his live-action Netflix short “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.” He’s one of the few directors in Hollywood who doesn’t have to compromise his vision, and continues to get his passion projects funded with A-list actors taking paycuts to star in them.
Anderson’s most notable credits include “The Royal Tenenbaums,” “Rushmore,” “The Fantastic Mr. Fox,” and “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” His films feature dollhouse-like worlds filled with the smallest of details, in every frame, that second and third viewings are abound with discovery.
Criterion's December lineup has some great additions to the library, but the title that jumped out at me is Werner Herzog's "Grizzly Man," which officially joins the Collection on December 8.