| Director: | Wes Anderson |
| Cinematography: | Bruno Delbonnel |
| Distributors: | --> |
| Country: | United States |
| Language: | English |
The Phoenician Scheme is an upcoming American adventure film directed by Wes Anderson from a script he wrote with Roman Coppola. The film will feature an ensemble cast including Benicio del Toro, Michael Cera, Bill Murray, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Rupert Friend, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston, Mia Threapleton, Mohamed Chahrour, Imad Mardnli and Tonio Arango. It will be produced by Anderson through his company American Empirical Pictures and Steven Rales through his company Indian Paintbrush.
Michael Cera and Benicio del Toro were the first cast members rumored to be part of Wes Anderson's next film in May 2023.[1] [2] Anderson first talked about the film in June 2023 while promoting Asteroid City, calling it a "three-hander" adventure and saying that it had already been written before the 2023 WGA strike began,[3] working with Roman Coppola. He confirmed del Toro's involvement saying that the film would feature him in every shot, and that the film involved a father-daughter relationship in a dark espionage tale.[4] In September, Anderson confirmed that Cera was planned to feature alongside del Toro in the film, and he hoped to begin filming soon after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike was over.[5] Bill Murray was officially announced as part of the cast in January 2024.[6] Long-time collaborating producer Steven Rales and his company Indian Paintbrush are also working on the film.[7] Between March and April 2024, Mia Threapleton had joined the cast as the female lead,[8] and Riz Ahmed had joined as well.[9]
Principal photography began on March 12, 2024, in Germany and wrapped on June 3 of the same year.[10] [11] The rest of the cast was announced on June 6, 2024, including Tom Hanks, Benedict Cumberbatch, Scarlett Johansson, Willem Dafoe, Bryan Cranston, Threapleton, Tonio Arango, Imke Büchel, Imad Mardnli, Jaime Ferkic, Antonia Desplat, Aysha Samuel, and Sabine Hollweck.[12]