I’ve been on the road the last month or so, and one of my most delightful experiences of adjusting back to the real world was catching up with Wes Anderson’s fabulous Moonrise Kingdom. I was amazed at how he managed to create a movie that was more deeply stuffed up his own ass than perhaps any before it, and yet it was completely accessible, universally touching, and just goddamned entertaining from top to bottom. Add that to my deep love of Fantastic Mr. Fox, and Anderson pretty much has a blank check for excitement in my book for whatever project he does next.
From the buzz and financial returns of Moonrise, I’m willing to bet that’s the case with a lot of people.
Cut to some interviews Anderson has been a part of recently in which he’s let loose that his next film will be a European film not just in aesthetic, but in locale as well. The director has been Woody Allen’ing it for while, apparently spending as much time in Paris as in the States, and has thus been inspired to take his camera across the pond.
On the more rumor/speculation side of things, word is being let loose of negotiations/talks/lunches between the director and a huge batch of interesting actors that he would like in his next film. Some are Wes vets, others would be new faces to his centrally-composed screen, but the list includes the likes of Johnny Depp, Jeff Goldblum, Owen Wilson, Edward Norton, Jude Law, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Angela Lansbury, and of course, Bill Murray.
I would love to see Goldblum in Anderson’s next film, and Lord God Jesus Burying Dinosaur Bones does Depp need something refreshing to add to his slate. Really any and all of those people would undoubtedly be put to interesting use in his next, so bring it ensemble!