''Asteroid City'' is an upcoming American romantic

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

film written, directed, and produced by

Wes Anderson Wesley Wales Anderson (born May 1, 1969) is an American filmmaker. His films are known for their eccentricity and unique visual and narrative styles. They often contain themes of grief, loss of innocence, and dysfunctional families. Cited by so ...

. The cast has been described as being "larger than most other Anderson films that are ensemble in nature." It is set to be released by

Focus Features Focus Features LLC is an American film production and distribution company, owned by Comcast as part of Universal Pictures, a division of its wholly owned subsidiary NBCUniversal. Focus Features distributes independent and foreign films in th ...

in the United States for a limited release on June 16, 2023, before opening wide on June 23.

Premise

In 1955, students and parents from across the country gather for scholarly competition, rest/recreation, comedy, drama, and romance at a Junior Stargazer convention held in a fictional American desert town.

Cast

Tilda Swinton Katherine Matilda Swinton (born 5 November 1960) is a British actress. Known for her roles in independent films and blockbusters, she has received various accolades, including an Academy Award and a British Academy Film Award, in addition to ...

Adrien Brody Adrien Nicholas Brody (born April 14, 1973) is an American actor. He received widespread recognition and acclaim after starring as Władysław Szpilman in Roman Polanski's '' The Pianist'' (2002), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Acto ...

Tom Hanks Thomas Jeffrey Hanks (born July 9, 1956) is an American actor and filmmaker. Known for both his comedic and dramatic roles, he is one of the most popular and recognizable film stars worldwide, and is regarded as an American cultural icon. Ha ...

Margot Robbie Margot Elise Robbie (; born 2 July 1990) is an Australian actress and producer. Known for her work in both blockbuster and independent films, she has received several accolades, including nominations for two Academy Awards, four Golden Glob ...

Rupert Friend Rupert William Anthony Friend (born 9 October 1981) is an English actor. He first gained recognition for his roles in '' The Libertine'' (2004) and '' Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont'' (2005), both of which won him awards for best newcomer. He port ...

as Montana *

Jason Schwartzman Jason Francesco Schwartzman (born June 26, 1980) is an American actor and musician. Schwartzman made his film debut in Wes Anderson's 1998 film '' Rushmore'', and has gone on to appear in six other Anderson films: '' The Darjeeling Limited'' (2 ...

Scarlett Johansson Scarlett Ingrid Johansson (; born November 22, 1984) is an American actress. The world's highest-paid actress in 2018 and 2019, she has featured multiple times on the ''Forbes'' Celebrity 100 list. ''Time'' magazine named her one of the 100 ...

Bryan Cranston Bryan Lee Cranston (born March 7, 1956) is an American actor and director who is best known for portraying Walter White in the AMC crime drama series ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–2013) and Hal in the Fox sitcom ''Malcolm in the Middle'' (2000–2 ...

Hope Davis Hope Davis is an American actress. She is known for her performances on stage and screen earning various awards and nominations including a Tony Award nomination, as well two Primetime Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Award nominations. She ...

Jeff Goldblum Jeffrey Lynn Goldblum (; born October 22, 1952) is an American actor and musician. He has starred in some of the highest-grossing films of his era, such as ''Jurassic Park'' (1993) and '' Independence Day'' (1996), as well as their sequels. ...

Jeffrey Wright Jeffrey Wright (born December 7, 1965) is an American actor. He is well known for his role as Belize in the Broadway production of ''Angels in America'', for which he would win a Tony Award, and its HBO miniseries adaptation, for which he woul ...

Liev Schreiber Isaac Liev Schreiber (; born October 4, 1967) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and narrator. He became known during the late 1990s and early 2000s after appearing in several independent films, and later mainstream Hollywoo ...

Tony Revolori Anthony Revolori ( Quiñonez; born April 28, 1996) is an American actor. He is best known for his role as Zero Moustafa in ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' (2014), for which he was nominated for numerous acting awards, and Flash Thompson in the Mar ...

Matt Dillon Matthew Raymond Dillon (born February 18, 1964) is an American actor. He has received various accolades, including an Oscar and Grammy nomination. Dillon made his feature film debut in '' Over the Edge'' (1979) and established himself as a te ...

as Hank *

Sophia Lillis Sophia Lillis (born February 13, 2002) is an American actress. She is known for her role as Beverly Marsh in the horror films '' It'' (2017) and '' It: Chapter Two'' (2019) and for her starring role as a teenager with telekinetic abilities in th ...

Steve Park Stephen Park (born August 23, 1967) is an American former professional stock car racing driver. He won races in NASCAR's two top Northeast touring series ( Modified and K&N East) and all three national divisions (Truck, Busch, Cup Series). Park ...

as Roger *

Maya Hawke Maya Ray Thurman Hawke (born July 8, 1998) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. The daughter of actors Uma Thurman and Ethan Hawke, she began her career in modeling. She made her screen debut as Jo March in the 2017 BBC adaptation of '' ...

Fisher Stevens Fisher Stevens (born Steven Fisher; November 27, 1963) is an American actor, director, producer and writer. As an actor, he is best known for his portrayals of Ben in ''Short Circuit'' and ''Short Circuit 2'', Chuck Fishman on the 1990s televis ...

* Jake Ryan *

Ethan Josh Lee Ethan Josh Lee (born 2001) is a Korean-American actor. He is best known for his role as Quan Phook on ''Mr. Robinson''. He is also known as "Ethan Lee". Education Lee attended Calabasas High School. He is currently a student at Stanford Univers ...

Edward Norton Edward Harrison Norton (born August 18, 1969) is an American actor and filmmaker. He has received numerous awards and nominations, including a Golden Globe Award and three Academy Award nominations. Born in Boston, Massachusetts and raised ...

Steve Carell Steven John Carell (; born August 16, 1962) is an American actor and comedian. He played Michael Scott (The Office), Michael Scott in ''The Office (American TV series), The Office'' (2005–2011; 2013), NBC’s adaptation of the The Office (B ...

Hong Chau Hong Chau (born June 25, 1979) is an American actress who gained recognition for her supporting role in the 2017 film '' Downsizing'', in which she played the character Ngoc Lan Tran. For her performance, she was nominated for several supporting ...

Willem Dafoe Willem James Dafoe (; born July 22, 1955) is an American actor. He is the recipient of List of awards and nominations received by Willem Dafoe, various accolades, including the Volpi Cup for Best Actor, in addition to receiving nominations for ...

* Grace Edwards * Aristou Meehan *

Rita Wilson Rita Wilson (born Margarita Ibrahimoff; October 26, 1956) is an American actress, singer, and producer. Her film appearances include ''Volunteers'' (1985), ''Sleepless in Seattle'' (1993), '' Now and Then'' (1995), ''That Thing You Do!'' (1996), ...

Jarvis Cocker Jarvis Branson Cocker (born 19 September 1963) is an English musician and radio presenter. As the founder, frontman, lyricist and only consistent member of the band Pulp, he became a figurehead of the Britpop genre of the mid-1990s. Following P ...

Production

MJK 08478 Wes Anderson (Opening Gala Berlinale 2018)

In September 2020, it was revealed

would be writing and directing a

romance film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

, which he would produce alongside

Jeremy Dawson Jeremy Dawson (born in Texas, but raised in Shawnee, Oklahoma, USA) is best known as the keyboardist of the American new wave/indie rock band Shiny Toy Guns. Bands Jeremy was the driving force behind the act Cloud2Ground. He is also the co-f ...

and Steven Rales for American Empirical Pictures and Indian Paintbrush. By February 2021,

Michael Cera Michael Austin Cera (; ; born June 7, 1988) is a Canadian actor and musician. He started his career as a child actor, voicing the character of Brother Bear on the children's television show ''The Berenstain Bears (2003 TV series), The Berenstain ...

and

entered negotiations to star in the director's next film, which was now described as being about a "group of brainy teenagers."

was the first person to officially join the cast, doing so in June 2021. Principal photography, originally set for

Rome , established_title = Founded , established_date = 753 BC , founder = King Romulus (legendary) , image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg , map_caption ...

, took place in Spain between August and October 2021. Several sets in Chinchón, Madrid, resembling a desert landscape and a mock train station, were used for the shoot. Cast member

said the film would include "the wildest cast since ''

The Bridge on the River Kwai ''The Bridge on the River Kwai'' is a 1957 epic war film directed by David Lean and based on the 1952 novel written by Pierre Boulle. Although the film uses the historical setting of the construction of the Burma Railway in 1942–1943, the pl ...

''" and that the cast and crew "were all bubbled together in a hotel, which was an old

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which ...

." The film's title was revealed by

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on ''Saturday Nigh ...

to be ''Asteroid City'' at the

BFI London Film Festival The BFI London Film Festival is an annual film festival founded in 1957 and held in the United Kingdom, running for two weeks in October with co-operation from the British Film Institute. It screens more than 300 films, documentaries and shor ...

in October 2021.

Alexandre Desplat Alexandre Michel Gérard Desplat (; born 23 August 1961) is a French film composer and conductor. He has won many awards, including two Academy Awards, for his musical scores to the films ''The Grand Budapest Hotel'' and ''The Shape of Water'', ...

composed the film's score in his sixth collaboration with Anderson. In July 2022, it was announced that

would distribute the film, reuniting them with Anderson after ''

Moonrise Kingdom ''Moonrise Kingdom'' is a 2012 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by Wes Anderson, written by Anderson and Roman Coppola, and starring Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, Jason Schwartzman, ...

'' (2012). It was also revealed Murray would not be in the film as initially reported as a result of contracting COVID-19 before he could shoot his scenes. Costume design was by multiple Oscar-laureate

Milena Canonero Milena Canonero, Dame Grand Cross (born 13 July 1949) is an Italian costume designer, who has worked for both film and stage productions. She has won four Academy Awards for Best Costume Design, and been nominated for the award a total of nine t ...

Release

''Asteroid City'' is scheduled for a limited release in the United States on June 16, 2023, before expanding to a wide release on June 23, 2023.

References

External links

* {{Wes Anderson Upcoming films American romantic comedy-drama films Films directed by Wes Anderson Films produced by Wes Anderson Films scored by Alexandre Desplat Films set in 1955 Films set in Arizona Films shot in Chinchón Films with screenplays by Wes Anderson Focus Features films Indian Paintbrush (production company) films Upcoming English-language films