I adored Wes Anderson’s Moonrise Kingdom this summer and found it be simultaneously, the director’s most stylized film and his most accessible. Although Anderson has his critics for being too precise, quirky and mannered, MK found a brilliant way to use a big cast of well known names, giving them nuance and playing them off a couple of eager newcomers. The result was a picture that felt human and poignant while also capturing that 50′s comic-strip sensibility that settles on almost everything he does. The same could have been said of his second feature Rushmore too. If he’s going to design more pictures like MK, with youthful counterpoints to his surly, hilariously disillusioned adults, I’m in.

 

Although there’s no word on what the man’s next project is actually about, the cast being assembled does sound enticing. So far the word is he’s approaching Johnny Depp, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Jude Law, Jeff Goldblum, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe and Angela Lansbury to star in the as-of-yet untitled project.

 

Many of those names have worked with Anderson in the past, and Depp and Law make a certain sense too (afterall they have worked with quirkier directors, Gilliam popping to mind). The one that intrigues me is Angela Lansbury, the classy British actress who provided my childhood with many happy memories via Murder She Wrote and Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Performing on stage in productions like Sweeney Todd, and showing her range in pictures as diverse as The Manchurian Candidate and The Company of Wolves, Lansbury is perfect for the storybook worlds that Anderson creates.She possesses the curious wit necessary for the adult portions and the right kind of warmth for the childlike exaggeration. 

 

Looking forward to hearing more on this one as it shapes up.