Wes Anderson

Source: Festival de Cannes

Wes Anderson

The Phoenician Scheme director Wes Anderson has mocked Donald Trump’s proposed 100% tariffs on films made outside the US.

“The tariff is interesting because I’ve never heard of a 100% tariff before,” said Anderson in a tongue-in-cheek response to a question from Screen at the Cannes press conference for his Competition title.

“I’m not an expert in that area of economics, but I feel that means he’s saying he’s going to take all the money. And then what do we get? So it’s complicated to me. Can you hold up the movie in customs? It doesn’t ship that way.

“I thought you said he was giving us a plug or something. Did Trump see it?”, said Anderson jokingly in response to the question.

Earlier this month, Trump posted on social media that his administration would be implementing 100% tariffs on films made outside the US, a statement that was met with confusion and derision from many in the industry.

Later in the light-hearted session, Richard Ayoade – one of Anderson’s latest starry cast – joked that he was using the conference to announce his own tariffs.

In response to a question about how he chooses his ideas, Anderson addressed the topic of a perceived similarity between his films.

“Every movie is different,” says Anderson. “Someone says they watch one of the trailers and can tell in five seconds it’s my movie.

“I can’t pretend I don’t know what we’re talking about, but for me each movie is a whole different, separate thing.”

The conference was attended by returning Anderson actors Benedict Cumberbatch, Benicio del Toro, Ayoade and Rupert Friend, plus first-timers Riz Ahmed, Michael Cera and Mia Threapleton.

Next project

Anderson regular Bill Murray was also sat in the front row of the conference, and interjected on a couple of occasions. First he stood up to lead the panel and press room in serenading Cosima Coppola, the daughter of The Phoenician Scheme co-writer Roman Coppola, in a rendition of ‘Happy Birthday’ on her 14th birthday today.

Later, when Anderson was asked if he would ever make a sequel to any of his films, the director suggested to Murray that they make “The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou 2”, with Murray standing up again to shake Anderson’s hand in agreement.

Anderson did reveal that he is working on a new script with Ayoade. Without divulging details, he offered only that “it’s pretty dark.”

The Phoenician Scheme is Anderson’s 12th feature film. It is his fourth time in Competition, after Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The French Dispatch (2021) and Asteroid City (2023).

The film premiered last night at the Grand Theatre Lumiere and recorded middling scores on the Screen Cannes jury grid today.

The Competition continues today with Tarik Saleh’s Eagles Of The Republic and Julia Ducournau’s Alpha.

The Phoenician Scheme will open in a limited release in North America on May 30 through Focus Features, before going wide on June 6.

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