It’s not Cannes without Wes Anderson, and the Houston native’s The Phoenician Scheme has its world premiere Sunday night in Cannes, notching a 7½-minute ovation. First-time Anderson-film star Mia Threapleton was tearing up as the crowd’s applause continued.
“The only thing really I can think to say — I think of 12 words to say that would stand for everything in this movie,” Anderson said to the audience after the screening. He then proceeded to point at and name-check his castmates who were on hand, along with longtime writing and producing partner Roman Coppola. Here’s how it went down:
So how does that ovation stack up against his other movies that have premiered at the Palais?
Anderson’s 2023 desert absurdist comedy rolled up a six-minute-plus cheer at the Palais, while his 2021 The French Dispatch, which repped the first Cannes post-Covid, clocked a reported nine-minute ovation. Moonrise Kingdom reportedly had a five-minute ovation in 2012.
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The movie’s cast is led by Anderson vet Benicio Del Toro and Threapleton and also features Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, Richard Ayoade, Willem Dafoe and F. Murray Abraham.
In his review, Deadline’s Pete Hammond said The Phoenician Scheme “belongs lock, stock and barrel to Benicio Del Toro, playing this Onassis-style billionaire who proves again to be so adept to the rhythms of Anderson’s dialogue and delivers flawlessly here.”
Written by Anderson and his longtime collaborator Roman Coppola, The Phoenician Scheme is a return to form to the filmmaker’s offbeat dysfunctional family comedies, i.e. Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. Set in 1950, it follows European industrialist Anatole “Zsa-zsa” Korda (Del Toro), who has survived yet another attempt on his life — his sixth plane crash. Korda’s wide-ranging, wildly complex and ruthless business practices have made him an enemy to not just rival enterprises but also governments of every ideology across the globe — and a target for assassins.
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Now in the final stages of a decades-long project, and with threats never-ending, he appoints a successor, his estranged daughter Liesl (played by Kate Winslet’s daughter Threaplton), a nun in training. With his personal tutor Bjorn (Michael Cera) in tow, Zsa-zsa and Liesl sweep across Modern Greater Independent Phoenicia meeting their assorted partners on a mission to close The Gap — a rapidly expanding financial shortfall, that Zsa-zsa quantifies as “Everything we got — plus a little bit more.” Meanwhile, Liesl is looking into the unsolved murder of her mother, Zsa-zsa’s first wife.
The Phoenician Scheme reps Anderson’s third release with Focus Features after Moonrise Kingdom and Asteroid City. Combined, the two pics grossed $122M worldwide.
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Anderson has been a bright spot at the specialty box office since the pandemic. Asteroid City owns the post-Covid domestic opening weekend per-theater record with $142K after an $853K opening at six theaters in June 2023. The movie minted another $9M in its second weekend wide frame, ultimately ending its U.S./Canada run at $28.1M.
The Phoenician Scheme opens limited in NYC and LA on May 30 with a wide expansion on June 6.
Erik Pedersen contributed to this report.
