Tilda Swinton & Frances McDormand Also Circling
Deadline reports that one helluva cast including Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton are in talks to join Wes Anderson‘s next film, “Moon Rise Kingdom.”
Written by Anderson and Roman Coppola (the two last collaborated on “The Darjeeling Limited” and co-directed a recent ad for Stella Artois), “‘Moon Rise Kingdom’ is set in the 60s. Two young adults fall in love and run away. Leaders in their New England town are sticking [to] the idea that they’ve disappeared and go in search of them.” Should everyone shake hands and sign contracts, Norton would play “a scout leader who brings his charges on a search”; Willis “the town sheriff who’s also looking,” and who is having an affair with the missing girl’s mother who would be played by McDormand, while her husband would be played by Murray. No word yet on Swinton’s role.
News of the project first surfaced in September when it was revealed that Anderson was looking to cast a boy and a girl, aged 12 years old for the lead roles. No word yet if he’s found them, but clearly, they will be playing the runaways and we imagine the action will cut between their journey and the search by the adults in town.
The casting is intriguing as Murray is the only actor who is part of Anderson’s regular troupe of players, but it does indicate that perhaps he’s trying to shake things up a bit from this usual routine. We’ve been hoping that Anderson’s next project would mark a gear change for the director and it definitely looks like it is. The shift to younger protagonists and a period setting has us very, very excited. And naturally, a ’60s setting will let Anderson go wild with the soundtrack (he’s already shown a fantastic ear for songs from that era) and we can’t wait to see what his meticulous eye will do with set design for the era.
The film will be produced by Indian Paintbrush who handled “The Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “The Darjeeling Limited,” and no word yet on a distributor (though Fox Searchlight is likely a strong contender). The film will go in front of cameras next spring, no release date has been set.