Sumith Prasad
Wes Anderson’s new film is titled ‘The Phoenician Scheme.’ The filming of the movie will start in the United Kingdom and Potsdam, Germany, this spring. Although the plot of the project is currently under wraps, it is described as a story of a family and a family business, revolving around espionage and a father-daughter relationship and featuring a “dark tone.” In addition to Michael Cera and Benicio del Toro, the film will also feature the director’s frequent collaborator Bill Murray.
Anderson is directing the movie based on a screenplay he wrote with friend and collaborator Roman Coppola. The director most recently wrote and directed four short films, which are ‘The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,’ ‘The Swan,’ ‘The Rat Catcher,’ and ‘Poison,’ for Netflix, all based on Roald Dahl’s stories. His last feature film ‘Asteroid City’ features Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, and many more.
Roman co-wrote Anderson’s ‘The Darjeeling Limited’ and ‘Moonrise Kingdom,’ in addition to co-writing the story of the filmmaker’s ‘Isle of Dogs,’ ‘The French Dispatch,’ and ‘Asteroid City.’
Cera joined the cast after playing Allan in Greta Gerwig’s global phenomenon ‘Barbie.’ The actor also lent his voice to Scott Pilgrim in Netflix’s animated series ‘Scott Pilgrim Takes Off,’ reprising his character from Edgar Wright’s 2010 action comedy ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.’ His recent credits include John in Hulu’s drama series ‘Life & Beth,’ Armen in ‘Under the Boardwalk,’ Trent in Nicolas Cage-starrer ‘Dream Scenario,’ and Beppe in Netflix’s ‘Black Mirror.’
Del Toro is reuniting with Anderson after working together in the 2021 comedy-drama film ‘The French Dispatch,’ in which the actor played Moses Rosenthaler. Recently, he portrayed Detective Tom Nichols in Netflix’s crime drama ‘Reptile,’ starring alongside Justin Timberlake and Alicia Silverstone.
Murray was a part of the cast of every feature film Anderson made since his second movie ‘Rushmore,’ except for ‘Asteroid City.’ The actor was originally set to play a motel manager in the 2023 film but had to be replaced by Steve Carell upon getting diagnosed with COVID-19 four days before the start of the shoot. Murray portrayed Lord Krylar in ‘Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania’ and The Colonel in ‘The Greatest Beer Run Ever.’
Although Murray is facing several allegations of misconduct made against him, Anderson made it clear that the claims won’t affect his relationship with the actor. “My experience with Bill is so extensive. Bill was such a great supporter of me from the very beginning. I don’t want to speak about somebody else’s experience, but he’s really part of my family. You know, he’s my daughter’s godfather. In fact, he actually baptized her. He’s the one who splashed the water,” the filmmaker told IndieWire.
The United Kingdom is a significant location of several high-profile films released in the last year, ranging from ‘Barbie’ to ‘Rebel Moon: Part One – A Child of Fire.’ Anderson is returning to Potsdam after shooting a part of ‘The Grand Budapest Hotel’ in the region. The city previously hosted the production of several Hollywood movies, including ‘John Wick: Chapter 4’ and Cate Blanchett’s ‘Tár.’
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