Update (Nov. 4): Yep, it was a joke. Anderson tells Collider, “that was a joke that I made outside the premiere the other night.  I wasn’t aware that anyone thought I really meant it.” Original article follows.

With Fantastic Mr. Fox about to be released, everyone is talking to Wes Anderson. The obvious question for the director is ‘what’s next?’ If one recent short interview isn’t actually a joke (and I suspect that it is) then we might see Anderson going to the final frontier.

AccessHollywood talked to Anderson, and when asked about future projects he said he’d like to do a movie in space. Here’s the quote: “I’d like to do a movie in space. If possible I would like to try to actually shoot some of it on location in space. That’s my preference.” Sounds like a joke to me. There’s no video accompanying the web piece, but I can see Anderson half-smirking through that statement. Like many, I’d be happy to see the director try his hand at shooting a film in space, but somehow I don’t think that’s really what’s going to happen. Happy to eat my words on this one, but what’s the chance I’ll have to.

Because that statement is likely a gag, I wonder if Anderson’s further quote is also said tongue in cheek. While talking about his next film (a very small tidbit about that in a moment), Anderson says he is interested in adapting other books. “I would like to do more adaptations,” he says. “It’s nice to reach a point in the story and say, ‘What happens in the book?’ and you can just look in that and get your answer.” Look for some to take that as a sign of weakness, while I’ll read it as looking for an opportunity to have a set story framework in which to explore characters and situations. If, again, he’s not joking.

So, about that next film: in this interview all he allows is that it is “something that’s just my own,” i.e. not an adaptation and not co-written with Noah Baumbach or Owen Wilson.