Directors like Wes Anderson are meticulous, with hyper-detailed work that usually only comes every two-three years at best. But the American ex-pat, who lives in France full-time now, has been working at a super-fast clip lately—some of that due to the pandemic pile-up. Last year was “The French Dispatch,” a movie about American ex-pats and a kind of love letter to The New Yorker, and this year, Anderson already has another film in the can and debuting in June. And just like last year, Anderson’s new film, “Asteroid City,” will make its world premiere at the Cannes Film Festival—two films likely in competition, two years in a row which is rather rare.
READ MORE: ‘Asteroid City’: Wes Anderson’s Newest Film Debuts Poster & Lands Cannes World Premiere
While Anderson usually makes contemporary movies with a vintage flair—“The French Dispatch” was set in modern times but flashbacked to old magazine stories told in the 1960s and 1970s, “Asteroid City” is a rare full-blown period piece (though one supposed “Moonlight Kingdom” is set in 1965). The story begins in a fictional American desert town circa 1955, and calamity and world-changing events are teased.
As per usual, these days, the story is by Anderson and his longtime collaborator filmmaker Roman Coppola, who seems to have a story credit on all his recent films and ends up doing a lot of second-unit directing on his movies too. The film is produced by Wes Anderson, Steven Rales, and Jeremy Dawson and, as usual, has a huge all-star cast.
Top billing goes to newcomers and familiar members of Anderson’s troupe, including Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, and Edward Norton. The rest of the cast is a similar mix of new faces and old friends, including Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Stephen Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, Hong Chau, Willem Dafoe, Margot Robbie, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, and Jeff Goldblum.
Here’s the official synopsis:
ASTEROID CITY takes place in a fictional American desert town circa 1955. The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
Focus Features will release “Asteroid City” in select theaters on Friday, June 16, and nationwide on Friday, June 23. Watch the first trailer below.