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Awesome. I was in Paris last summer, and the last night I was there, I went out for a late dinner at some restaurant that was suggested by someone who knew the area better than me. I walked in, asked for a table for one, and as the maitre d' turned left and right looking for an appropriate spot, the motion of his body revealed Wes Anderson in what looked like a seersucker suit, sitting with three fashionably dressed individuals who pretty much looked like the type of people you'd expect to be dining with Wes Anderson. (No, I was not seated near their table.)

Blimey! He's filming where I live!! Nothing much forthcoming in the local press re casting etc but it is supposed to be set immediately after WW2.

New Wes Anderson Film Set In Post-WWII France Reportedly Will Be A Musical

Pretty intriguing development if it holds, considering around the time Grand Budapest was released he said he couldn't see himself doing a musical.

And then he saw La La Land and thought, "Shit, even I could do better than this."

I had a funny feeling this would be a musical before that article came out...maybe too much Demy on the brain. It'll be interesting to see how Anderson handles choreography in particular, with his typically formal use of space.

My brain is more Buster Keaton than Demy on this news.

More details on the upcoming movie. Still a musical, set in a fictional French city, and filming in Angoulême as early as November.

Perhaps most interesting, and mysterious, of all is the information that the film will feature a recent (within the last 5 years) Academy Award-winning actor/actress in a lead role.

Maybe this is why Emma Stone backed out of the Gerwig movie?

I have a dreadful feeling that it’s Eddie Redmayne.

I'm surprised there's no leak/announcement about who's doing the music/lyrics. Or is it going to be jukebox musical of 50s french pop? Requisitioned Legrand/Demy songs?

AW thinks it's Redmayne too. They also point out Jennifer Lawrence has no current projects... It's too bad they said last five years, as Jean Dujardin would be an inspired fit for Anderson and he's actually French (but he also doesn't speak English, so that prob doesn't help)

Or in the least surprising possible news, Anderson could reunite with Blanchett or McDormand for another project.

For whatever reason I'd much rather see him make a thriller or western than a musical, which doesn't seem to be part of his canon. Anyway, hope I'm proven wrong about this much later on. McDormand fits the recent Oscar winner, but I think we'd all much rather see Matthew Mcconaughey and Owen Wilson play singing brothers stumbling through France.

Guessing it probably isn't Stone just because it seems unlike Anderson to tread in the territory of someone else's recent work. So few big prestige musicals are made now, why pilfer the same actress from the last one? Or maybe I'm just injecting my own logic into it. I expect it to be Blanchett.

domino harvey wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:14 pmJean Dujardin would be an inspired fit for Anderson and he's actually French (but he also doesn't speak English, so that prob doesn't help)

He spoke english in Wolf of Wall Street and as the voice of one of the Transformers in the Last Knight

domino harvey wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:14 pm AW thinks it's Redmayne too. They also point out Jennifer Lawrence has no current projects... It's too bad they said last five years, as Jean Dujardin would be an inspired fit for Anderson and he's actually French (but he also doesn't speak English, so that prob doesn't help)

Didn't stop Clooney or Scorsese. Just wishful thinking on my part though as he would be a perfect fit for Anderson.

domino harvey wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 5:30 pm Maybe this is why Emma Stone backed out of the Gerwig movie?

Hadn't thought of this, but this makes the most sense. She doesn't really have anything in the pipeline either aside from a few films that don't sound like they're anywhere near ready to shoot. Timing is right, but I agree re: her being in La La Land. Seems very unlike Anderson, but this is also uncharted territory for him so maybe bringing in someone with some experience singing in a film will bring some measure of comfort. He doesn't have the experience, but she would.

McConaughey and McDormand also seem conspicuously free, but I'm not sure if either fit an Anderson musical as well as Stone would.

Brie Larson would make sense given her past as a singer, but I don't know if a 4-5 month shoot would be conducive for her schedule promoting Captain Marvel's release in March. Conceivably, she could probably do it (though she's shooting a film with Destin Daniel Cretton now, though I'd guess that'll wrap by November).

Side note, I'm going to guess this new film's announcement is bad news for the Criterion release of The Grand Budapest Hotel. If he was too busy to do it because of Isle of Dogs, a 4-5 month shoot in France is hardly likely to free up his schedule.

Dead or Deader wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:21 pm Or in the least surprising possible news, Anderson could reunite with Blanchett or McDormand for another project.

Blanchett is on stage in the UK in January, so it won't be her

domino harvey wrote: Thu Sep 20, 2018 5:40 pm

Dead or Deader wrote: Wed Sep 19, 2018 7:21 pm Or in the least surprising possible news, Anderson could reunite with Blanchett or McDormand for another project.

Blanchett is on stage in the UK in January, so it won't be her

I just found out that news, so she's out of the remaining recent Oscar-winning choices. Redmayne has the Fantastic Beast press tour in November, so many of the fearful can claim down knowing it's not likely he's getting the secret role.

Another name that hasn't been mentioned that remains a possibility is Julianne Moore. She was up for the Blanchett role in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou and I could see the two collaborating on a project.

Actors we can crossed off for good is Daniel Day Lewis for presumed retirement and Casey Affleck for past sexual misconducts, which will hover everything all over social media.

For ease of reference, here are all the acting winners for the last six years (since "five years" may be approximate):

Casey Affleck
Mahershala Ali
Patricia Arquette
Cate Blanchett
Viola Davis
Daniel Day-Lewis
Leonardo DiCaprio
Jean Dujardin
Anne Hathaway
Allison Janney
Brie Larson
Jennifer Lawrence
Jared Leto
Matthew McConaughey
Frances McDormand
Julianne Moore
Lupita Nyong’o
Gary Oldman
Christopher Plummer
Eddie Redmayne
Sam Rockwell
Mark Rylance
JK Simmons
Octavia Spencer
Emma Stone
Meryl Streep
Alicia Vikander
Christoph Waltz

I imagine the candidate is not a recent winner, otherwise the clue would have been "A recent Oscar winner," so that may discount last years' winners at least. Some of these are obviously more likely than others

Well, if it's French, Jean Dujardin would seem like the obvious choice for someone who hasn't worked with Anderson yet. I hated The Artist, but I did like him in The Wolf of Wall Street.

I would actually really love to see Gary Oldman in a Wes Anderson movie.

Jared Leto would be worse than Redmayne.

Not particularly sure I'd like to hear Casey Affleck sing.

Doesn't he sing in A Ghost Story?