Release Date: June 16, 2023 (Limited); June 23, 2023 (Wide)
I am still miffed about the lukewarm reception of Wes Anderson’s last film “The French Dispatch,” which I found to be a delightful ode to a kind of human interest press of a bygone era. The more he dives into his diorama aesthetic, the more I find myself enveloped in his ideas, his humor, and his emotions. Well, perhaps the popular tide will roll back in his favor with the release of his newest film, “Asteroid City.”
Details are a bit light, but we do know that the film takes place in the titular fictional desert town in 1955 at a Junior Stargazer convention, which promises a colorful cast of both adults and adolescents. Because he’s Wes Anderson, the ensemble he’s put together is absolutely outrageous, including names like Tom Hanks, Margot Robbie, Scarlett Johansson, Hong Chau, Matt Dillon, and Steve Carell alongside the likes of Anderson regulars Edward Norton, Jason Schwartzman, Jeff Goldblum, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, and Adrien Brody. Plus, we have folks like Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, and Liev Schreiber becoming new members of the Anderson staple with their second Anderson collaborations. And the famous names only continue on from there.
In my book, a new Wes Anderson film is always cause for celebration, and I know I will be there opening day! (Mike Shutt)