Everything you need to know about Wes Anderson's new film

After a long two-year hiatus, a new film by Wes Anderson, the American director renowned for his unique aesthetic, will return to the big screen in May. The title is The Phoenician Scheme and, according to Anderson’s statement in an interview with Le Monde in 2023, the film will focus on a dark-toned espionage story, deeply exploring the complex relationship between a father and a daughter. An unprecedented theme for the director, promising to surprise with an intense narrative and once again meticulously crafted aesthetics. The Phoenician Scheme is based on a screenplay co-written by the director and his longtime collaborator Roman Coppola, son of Francis Ford Coppola and brother of Sofia Coppola. The duo had previously worked together on the scripts for Asteroid City and Moonrise Kingdom, two of the most acclaimed films in Anderson’s filmography both critically and at the box office. Focus Features, which had already distributed previous works by the director, returns to collaborate on the project. In the United States, the film’s release is scheduled for May 30, fueling rumors of a possible premiere at the Cannes Film Festival (to be held at the beginning of that month), one of Anderson’s favorite venues to present his works.

As tradition holds, the cast of a Wes Anderson film can only include some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Leading the cast is Benicio del Toro(already a central character in The French Dispatch alongside Timothée Chalamet), who will play the protagonist Zsa-Zsa Korda, one of the richest men in Europe. Starring alongside him as his daughter, Sister Lies, will be Mia Threapleton, daughter of Kate Winslet, in her first major role in auteur cinema. A particularly anticipated addition is Michael Cera, an actor whose style seems perfectly aligned with Anderson’s aesthetic, who will play Bjorn Lund, the tutor of the father-daughter duo. According to Deadline, the rest of the cast includes other major stars such as Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, and, of course, Benedict Cumberbatch, a well-established muse for the director. With a stellar ensemble and Wes Anderson’s unmistakable style, The Phoenician Scheme stands as one of the most anticipated films of the year. Perhaps a special activation at Bar Luce for the occasion?