Asteroid City Is The Title Of Wes Anderson's Next Movie

The title of the next Wes Anderson movie has been revealed, via a slip of the tongue by Bill Murray, of course. The Anderson regular revealed at the BFI London Film Festival screening (per Screen Daily) of their latest collaboration, "The French Dispatch," that the new Anderson movie will carry the quirky name of "Asteroid City." 

Shooting is currently underway in Chinchón, Spain, for the film, which is rumored to be a love story set against a European backdrop. Murray will once again headline the film, his 10th collaboration with the filmmaker since 1998's "Rushmore." 

Besides Murray, actors who have previously worked with Anderson onboard for his new project include Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Scarlett Johansson, Jeffrey Wright, Liev Schreiber, Rupert Friend, Jason Schwartzman, and Tony Revolori. Newcomers to the ensemble fold include Margot Robbie, Tom Hanks, Hope Davis and '80s icon Matt Dillon, who is not currently listed on IMDb but was spotted wearing oily overalls on the film's set in September. Murray remarked at the BFI London Film Festival about the recurring actors who pop up in each new film from the 52-year-old cult favorite filmmaker:

"It's the usual cast of characters. We're shooting it in Spain, about 45 minutes from Madrid. It's fun out there, we're having a nice time. That's what we do in showbusiness – we just say the name and people will clap. It has no meaning whatsoever... I flew in from Spain. I want to get my money's worth."

So what can we gleam from the title "Asteroid City"? Not much. From the few leaked photos from set the film appears to have some kind of desert crater or mountainous setting, so the asteroid could be literal. It also seems assured, from the appearances of cast members like Liev Schreiber looking like they walked straight out of a Carol Reed film, that Anderson is delivering yet another period piece, as he did with previous films "Moonrise Kingdom," "The Grand Budapest Hotel" and his latest "The French Dispatch," which Focus Features is releasing on October 22, 2021. You can check out /Film's review of "French Dispatch" out of this year's Cannes Film Festival right here.

As for Murray leading the cast, we're all for it. There's even a part of us that wishes Anderson could go back and insert Murray somewhere, even as a voice cameo, into his 1996 debut "Bottle Rocket" just so Murray could have officially appeared in every one of his movies. Arguably no filmmaker (possibly with the exception of Ivan Reitman) has wrung better performances out of the 71-year-old comedic legend, who famously has neither an agent nor a manager. To book Murray on a film you have to call a 1-800 number and leave a voice mail.

Said Murray of Anderson, "There are certain people you don't take their calls; and there are certain people you just say, 'OK, yeah.' He's one of those."