Update: Speaking with Le Monde, Wes Anderson gave a small update on his next feature:
“My next feature film will be linear, with Benicio Del Toro in every shot. I can’t tell you much more than that except that it will be about espionage, a father-daughter relationship, and, let’s say, with a rather dark tone.”
Meanwhile (per Richard Brody) Anderson told Cahiers du Cinéma, “I’m going in another direction and it will probably be less dark than I’d planned. It will be a lot about family, even more than in Asteroid City.”
Read the original story below.
While we’re just ten days away from Wes Anderson’s sci-fi western Asteroid City––a film that is very much worth the wait––the director is already in various stages on his next projects. This fall will see the Netflix release of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, the director’s 12th feature and second Roald Dahl adaptation, which brings together Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Rupert Friend, and Richard Ayoade. Following that there’s been word of a 13th feature in the works, and confirmation has finally arrived.
While speaking with cinematographer Robert Yeoman about Asteroid City, we learned production will begin later this year on the mysterious project, though he doesn’t have any more details to share. “I’m out of the loop on that one. But [Wes Anderson] works. He’s a workaholic. I’ll give him that. We jumped right from Asteroid City into the Henry Sugar thing. We were in Spain and then we went to England. He works harder than anybody. He’s just always got something going on. I’m a little more like: take some time off and enjoy my life,” he said with a laugh.
While no word on the plot has been revealed, it’s been reported Michael Cera (who was originally attached to Asteroid City), Jeff Goldblum, and Benicio Del Toro are circling the new film. If it’s anything like his recent ensemble projects, expect many more casting announcements to trickle in over the next few months. In the meantime, Yeoman also shared more details about the forthcoming Henry Sugar, which will feature four separate stories with actors playing different roles across the stories.
“Three of them were shot on a stage. One of them is out in the jungle. So it was quite a challenge to create all this on a stage. And each one has a very distinct look to it. We shot 16mm for the whole thing, which when I saw the finished film, the first thing I wrote Wes was I just love the 16mm. It has such a distinct look to it,” the cinematographer said. “But again, he’s pushing the boundaries and it’s a very different style, in some ways, than what Wes usually does. When I saw the film––I saw it a couple of months ago, they were color timing––I loved it when we worked on it, but when I saw it on the screen, I was like, ‘This is really cool.’ It was really amazing. And I’ll be curious how everyone reacts to it. It’s a little bit different style than what Wes ordinarily does. I think a lot of it has to do with, when he did those animated movies, it changed how he approaches making a film now. And that one in particular, we knew there would be something that would be put on the screen up on top or something, because it was on a stage. Everything was forced perspective. And so it was a little tricky oftentimes. But, you know, it challenges you. And when you can pull it off, you get a great deal of satisfaction with that.”
With color-timing taking place a few months ago, it sounds like it’ll be ready for a fall festival premiere. Check back soon for my full conversation with Yeoman and make sure to visit Asteroid City when it opens on June 16 and expands wide on June 23.