Focus Features have announced their initial 2012 slate, but there is one film we are most excited to see above the rest. We’ll get to the others first though. Paul Weitz‘s Being Flynn, a drama starring Robert De Niro, Paul Dano and Julianne Moore has been given a March 2nd, 2012 limited release. Check out more about the film at our trailer post, which will go up against The Lorax, Project X and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters.

They also set a date for Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, from Nick & Norah screenwriter Lorene Scafaria – who’s making her directorial debut. It stars Keira Knightley as Steve Carell‘s neighbor, who asks to help him find his childhood sweetheart when news breaks of an asteroid that’s about to collide with and destroy Earth. The film will arrive in limited release on April 20th, 2012 alongside Escape From M.S. One, The Lucky One, The Wettest County In The World and Chimpanzee.

Now, on to the exciting stuff. After Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson is returning to live-action filmmaking with Moonrise Kingdom. Starring Bill Murray, Harvey Keitel, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman and newwcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward, it follows a young boy and girl who fall in love. They then run away together and a search commences for them in a 1960s New England coastal town. Focus have announced a May 25th, 2012 limited release date for the film. I’d expect an early Cannes Film Festival premiere due to the proximity of their kick-off.

In other Moonrise Kingdom news, conductor Conrad Pope has confirmed (via his Facebook page) that composer Alexandre Desplat will score the feature. Check out his statement below.

“Off to Avatar Studios in Manhattan to conduct the recording of Alexandre Desplat’s latest music for Wes Anderson’s newest film “Moonrise Kingdom”- a film with such a unique sensibility and style that it is as hard to describe as its charm is to resist.”

Desplat worked with Anderson on Fantastic Mr. Fox and has been keeping busy this year with The Tree of Life, The Ides of March, A Better Life, Carnage, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. Desplat’s playful style seems to be a great mix for Anderson, so I’m looking forward to see what they produce. For more info on the film check out some set photos we posted last summer.

Are you looking forward to seeing Moonrise Kingdom this summer? What about the other Focus titles?