EXCLUSIVE: This won’t come as a big surprise after so much speculation, but we hear that Wes Anderson’s comedy Asteroid City definitely is headed to the Cannes Film Festival.
Nothing official from the festival or studio, but multiple good sources tell us it’s locked for a Riviera bow in May.
And what fun that promises to be. Anderson rarely misses. Few directors deal in the depth of talent he does, either, making for fireworks on screen and the red carpet. Asteroid City is no different. If anything, it may be a notch up on the starometer even by his standards.
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The cast includes Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, 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. There were even cameos for musicians Seu Jorge and Jarvis Cocker, who will play cowboys. If they’ve made the cut.
Bill Murray was also due to star but reportedly caught Covid just before cameras rolled last year so was replaced by Carrell.
Set in a fictional American desert town circa 1955, the film’s synopsis reads: 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.
Anderson wrote Asteroid City with Roman Coppola and produced the pic with his regular partners Steven Rales and Jeremy Dawson. Focus has set a stateside release for June 16, and the film’s trailer arrives Wednesday. Above is the first poster, revealed today.
Anderson has previously been on the Coisette with The French Dispatch and Moonrise Kingdom, both of which played in Competition. The latter opened Cannes in 2012, so there remains a possibility Asteroid City could do the same.
Among movies tipped to play at Cannes this year are Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon and Disney’s Indiana Jones and the Dial Of Destiny. The Official Selection will be unveiled next month. It promises to be quite the lineup. Here and here are some other buzzy movies we hear could be in the mix.
Cannes Film Festival and Focus Features declined to comment.