The cinematic worlds of Wes Anderson are famously quaint. Pastel hues reign, and characters proclaim whimsically to their heart's content. It's a style heavily parodied, but never truly replicated by any other. And now the director is back, after releasing The French Dispatch last year, with Asteroid City, an American romantic comedy-drama.
Much like Moonrise Kingdom and The Darjeeling Limited, Anderson co-wrote the script with his frequent writing partner Roman Coppola, who also has a story credit on Isle of Dogs and The French Dispatch. Here's everything we can expect from the director’s 11th feature.
Does Asteroid City have a trailer?
With its June release date fast approaching, it was only a matter of time before we got our first tease of Anderson's latest, this time with added aliens.
In classic Anderson fashion, the trailer, which all sunshine-saturated yellows, oranges and teals, says a hell of a lot without actually giving much away. What we do know is the film is about a quirky town centred around an asteroid crater, which may or may not involve some extra-terrestrials. There's the trademark witty, mumbled dialogue, the perfectly centred focus shots and, basically, every actor under the sun.
In snapshots from the trailer, you can see, among others, Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Carrell, Maya Hawke, Hope Davis and Liev Schreiber. Still, that's only a fraction of the cast that actually appears in the movie who we are yet to see in their full ‘90s-by-way-of-the-’60s-inspired garb.
Watch the full trailer here:
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Who else will star in Asteroid City?
Much like his last offering The French Dispatch, Asteroid City's cast is packed to the gills. As well as Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Steve Carrell, Maya Hawke, Jeffrey Wright, Hope Davis and Liev Schreiber, who we all see in the trailer, there's also *deep breath* Margot Robbie, Tilda Swinton, Hong Chau, Edward Norton, Tony Revolori, Bryan Cranston, Adrien Brody, Jeff Goldblum and Willem Dafoe.
This will be Tom Hanks and Margot Robbie's debuts in the Wes Anderson Universe, and Steve Carell replaced Bill Murray, Murray’s 10th collaboration with Anderson.
What is Asteroid City about?
In 1955, students and parents from across the country gather at a Junior Stargazer convention held in a fictional American desert town. "The film brings together students and parents from across the country for scholarly competition, rest and recreation, comedy, drama, romance, and more,” an official description reads.
Fisher Stevens, who starred in The French Dispatch, collaborates with Anderson again for Asteroid City and told Vulture that filming in Spain convinced him that the film has the “wildest cast” for a feature film in decades.
“I can tell you it’s probably the best, the wildest cast since The Bridge on the River Kwai," he said. “Most of the actors in this film have been in theatre except for the kids. We were all bubbled together in a hotel, which was an old monastery. I think it’s going to be quite an extravaganza.”
When will Asteroid City be released?
Wes Anderson fans don't have long to wait. Asteroid City will be a summer release on 16 June.