The World of Wes Anderson
We’re very sad to report the passing of Kumar Pallana, he was 94. Pallana appeared in four of Wes’ movies, Bottle Rocket, Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums and The Darjeeling Limited. We’ll be putting something together on each of these roles later, but for now crack a safe for Kumar.
Bill Murray and Olivia Williams (Rushmore) reunite as Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt in Hyde Park on Hudson. Don’t tell Dirk. The Rushmore Academy is giving away a $25 American Express Gift Card for a night at the movies, courtesy of Focus Features. To enter, comment on this post, the relevant Facebook post, or @rushmoreacademy and tell us which two Wes Anderson characters you would most like to see reunited in a historical drama. Who would they play?
Details: Entries must be received by Friday, 7 December 2012 at 11:59 pm ET. You must reside in the United States to enter. Winner will be chosen randomly from entries.
Color us excited, frequent Wes collaborator Roman Coppola (co-writer of The Darjeeling Limited and Moonrise Kingdom) is back with his second directorial effort A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Charles Swan III, coming more than a decade after his wonderful film CQ. The film stars Charlie Sheen in the title role, as a graphic designer with girl trouble. We’re most excited though by Coppola cousin Jason Schwartzman and American hero Bill Murray, who appear to play Swan’s best friend and father figure, respectively. The film comes out in the US on February 8th. We’ll be first in line.
With all of the casting confusion the internet is producing, we’re happy to set the record straight and report that both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter (THR) have confirmed Ralph Fiennes is in negotiations for Wes Anderon’s The Grand Budapest Hotel. He’s set to play a character named M. Gustave, who serves as the hotel’s perfectly composed concierge. This role was originally reported to be filled by Johnny Depp, but Wes Anderson denied this two months ago. But Anderson’s frequent cronies Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman are in the cast. Couldn’t imagine an Anderson without them. Fiennes recent projects have been acting alongside Daniel Craig in 007: Skyfall and portraying Charles Dickens in The Invisible Woman.
Also, THR has noted that Murder She Wrote‘s Angela Lansbury is no longer involved with the movie due to commitments to a stage version of the Academy-award winning film Driving Miss Daisy (also a Pulitzer Prize winning play). Lansbury has been performing on stage every year for the past six years. Lansbury will be playing alongside James Earl Jones and will open next year at Her Majesty’s Theater. Tickets will be on sale October 22nd.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is set for release in 2014. Keep checking back at RA.com for more updates.
A little light today, but still full of love. We’re in between movies and casting and we’re feeling the strain. Hopefully soon, we’ll hear more about the official cast and plot for #8, which starts filming in the fall. Until then, let’s get down to it:
The line-up for the Toronto International Film Festival was announced today, and with it the announcement of a new film from frequent Wes collaborator Noah Baumbach. The film is called Frances Ha and stars Greta Gerwig, who also co-wrote, as “a dancer who moves to New York City and becomes caught up in a whirlwind of flighty fair-weather friends, diminishing fortunes and career setbacks.” We’re big fans of Baumbach, and we can’t wait to see what he has up his sleeve here. To see more pictures from the film, head over to CriterionCast. No distributor yet, but we’re hoping Focus, who released Greenberg and Moonrise Kingdom will pick it up for the US.
Hello hello! Another Friday, another round-up. Many thanks to my compatriots for posting while I was away. This week brought us some exciting revelations regarding Movie #8, aka The Grand Budapest Hotel. We are thrilled, excited, and just beside ourselves with glee over this news and, as you’d expect, we’ll bring you all of the updates as they come. Now, onward!
Friends, Romans, Countrymen– welcome back into the fold. As you have surely noticed, yes, things are slowing down- down, but not out. There is more to come and much to look forward to: the ever expanding release of Moonrise, award season, more information about Movie #8, films by related artists, and new features (!) on the site. But for now, let’s get to it.
Moonrise Kingdom is not a drastic departure from Anderson’s first six features but rather an intensification of their characteristics, or even just their more explicit revelation.
