Another All-Star Cast, Another Tale of Family Chaos: The Trailer for Wes Anderson's 'The Phoenician Scheme' Is Here
Benicio del Toro, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright and Benedict Cumberbatch are among Anderson's latest ensemble.
Wes Anderson movies and Marvel films generally have little in common, but one fact remains true about both: they know how to stack a cast (sometimes with the same talents). The Phoenician Scheme, the latest from cinema's foremost fan of symmetry and pastels, is a case in point for the former. Benicio del Toro (Reptile) stars, joined by everyone from Mia Threapleton (The Buccaneers, and also Kate Winslet's daughter) and Michael Cera (Christmas Even in Miller's Point) to Riz Ahmed (Fingernails), Tom Hanks (Here), Bryan Cranston (The Studio), Mathieu Amalric (Why War), Richard Ayoade (Dream Productions), Jeffrey Wright (The Agency), Scarlett Johansson (Fly Me to the Moon), Benedict Cumberbatch (Eric), Rupert Friend (Companion) and Hope Davis (Succession).
Many of the above actors are Anderson regulars but, as the just-dropped trailer for The Phoenician Scheme shows, the writer/director never puts his ensemble to work in the same way twice. This time, he's enlisted his all-star roster to tell another of his tales of family chaos — one officially badged "the story of a family and a family business" — revolving around del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda, one of Europe's richest men.
Korda, an "international businessman" and "maverick in the fields of armaments and aviation", has nine sons and a daughter. The latter, Liesl (Threapleton), is a nun — and, as the first look at The Phoenician Scheme outlines, also newly appointed the sole heir to his estate despite not having seen her father for six years. Korda has his reasons. He also has a land and sea infrastructure scheme that's the "most important project" of his lifetime, plus the attention of rebels determined to get in his way however possible.
Anderson's new movie doesn't just have a trailer — it has a date with cinemas soon. After it likely plays at this year's Cannes Film Festival, it will release Down Under on Thursday, May 29, 2025.
The Phoenician Scheme marks the filmmaker's first project since 2023's Anderson bonanza, when Asteroid City hit cinemas and Oscar-winner The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar went straight to streaming alongside fellow shorts The Swan, The Rat Catcher and Poison.
While the writer/director penned the script for The Phoenician Scheme solo, he reunited with Roman Coppola, another of his frequent collaborators — see: The Darjeeling Limited, Moonrise Kingdom, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch and Asteroid City — on its story.
Check out the first trailer for The Phoenician Scheme below:
The Phoenician Scheme opens in cinemas Down Under on Thursday, May 29, 2025.
