Wes Anderson Teases “Western” With Bill Murray, Owen and Luke Wilson

A few months ago, I reported that Wes Anderson’s next film had been picked up by Focus and was aiming for a 2027 shoot in Europe. Anderson co-wrote the script with Roman Coppola and Richard Ayoade. As it stands, no title, cast, or plot details have been revealed.

It was only a matter of time before Ayoade became an Anderson regular. His directorial style shares many similarities with Anderson’s, particularly in its use of symmetrical framing, deadpan humor, and quirky, meticulously stylized worlds.

It’s also about time Owen and Luke Wilson reunited with Anderson. The trio first collaborated on Anderson’s 1996 debut, Bottle Rocket, before reuniting for Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. Owen co-wrote all three films with Anderson and has since appeared in seven of the director’s features.

All this leads me to last night, at Paris’s Cinema Paradiso festival, which is where Wes Anderson and Bill Murray hinted at a long-discussed Western project (via Variety). Anderson said he and Murray have talked about making this Western “for many years,” adding that Owen and Luke Wilson would be involved.

“The movie I want to make is a cowboy movie, because he’s (Anderson) from Texas, and I feel he owes the world a cowboy movie,” Murray said. “That’s why I’ve started walking like this,” he added, adopting a Western gait.

Anderson then confirmed the idea has been percolating in his head for years. “We will do a Western,” Anderson said. “For many years, we’ve talked about doing a Western. Owen and Luke Wilson, I think, will be a part of that… They’re from Texas, too, and I think it’s our destiny.”

It should be mentioned that this is not the Ayoade project, which should be up next, before the western.

As for Anderson’s last film, “The Phoenician Scheme,” it was released in 2025, the reviews were good, not great, with the usual detractors confiding that they’ve had it with Anderson’s visual and narrative style. Others are sticking with it, and will continue to defend the filmmaker to the very end. I personally found “Asteroid City,” and to a certain extent, “The French Dispatch,” to be much deeper and more satisfying films.