Every time Wes Anderson reveals another feature film, the same discussions start anew: Should the auteur at some point step outside of the artistic wheelhouse that has become so well defined with his work and his image? Is there value in continuing to produce more features–11 currently, or 12 if you count his Netflix Roald Dahl film–that all channel similar artistic, visual sensibilities, even if the tone might change somewhat from project to project? Is that enough? Or does the fact that no other filmmaker can really produce a true facsimile of Wes Anderson go to show that his style has never been so easily imitated as it is sometimes implied to be? The fact of the matter is this: Anderson at this point in his career is often accused of self parody, and the first trailer for the quaintly titled The Phoenician Scheme will do nothing to dissuade that. Like his most recent theatrical feature Asteroid City, this looks to be another absurd farce in an exotic locale, with Eastern European/Middle Eastern characters whose aesthetic perhaps more closely channels the look of The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Plot details are limited for The Phoenician Scheme, but Benicio del Toro stars as Zsa-Zsa Korda, “one of the richest men in Europe,” in a narrative the synopsis describes as only “The story of a family and a family business.” The trailer below, meanwhile, makes it clear that Zsa-Zsa has lived a pretty wild life, surviving half a dozen plane crashes and various attempts on his life, and now intends to pass his estate to estranged daughter Liesel (Mia Threapleton), who has since become a nun. The main crux of the story seems to revolve around rebuilding this familial connection as Zsa-Zsa and Liesel spar with a bunch of colorful millionaires and captains of industry as they attempt to complete a major construction project. Comic pratfalls and violence should be in full effect.
This being a Wes Anderson movie, The Phoenician Scheme is stuffed to the gills with A-list talent and actors who are now part of the Anderson stable of regulars, such as Willem Dafoe or Jeffrey Wright. The full cast, beyond del Toro and Threapleton, prominently includes Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Richard Ayoade, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bill Murray, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe, Mathieu Amalric and Ethan Hawke, among others. That still probably leaves the overall size of the ensemble somewhere beneath the size of The French Dispatch, for those who were keeping track.
The Phoenician Scheme is just over the horizon, with a limited theatrical release on May 30, 2025 before the film expands nationwide on June 6. Check out the trailer below to see Wes Anderson’s signature style in action.
