This summer, the world is going to get a little bit more eccentric. Mark your calendars for 24th July, the release date for Wes Anderson's latest creation, The French Dispatch. Starring literally every single person you care about, from Elisabeth Moss, to Stephen Park, to Owen Wilson, Frances McDorman, and Alex Lawther, Anderson's love letter to journalists looks like a dreamy, history-filled romp through France.
The first trailer for the Searchlight Pictures production was complemented by first look photos on NewYorker.com, where eager fans learned that the film's characters are based on, or inspired by, real-life journalists, thinkers, and revolutionaries, all immortalised in the magazine's pages. Westworld's Jeffrey Wright plays Roebuck Wright, a combination of James Baldwin and one of the country's first foodies, A.J. Liebling, a journalist from the American South. Bill Murray's character, the editor-in-chief of the pub, was inspired by The New Yorker's founding editor, Harold Ross.
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While much of the film is rooted in history, there a few more whimsical elements to look forward to. The fictional town, Ennui-sur-Blasé, is totally Wes Anderson-ified, as are a few key characters: Saoirse Ronan pops up with crimped hair and a mysterious aura around her; Wilson rocks a tiny navy beret; and of course, there's Timothée Chalamet, who plays young revolutionary Zeffirelli, caught bathing in a tub with a towel turban on his head by McDormand's Lucinda Krementz, a journalist for the titular fictional magazine, The French Dispatch. Chalamet's character also shares the same last name with famed Italian director and producer Franco Zeffirelli, although he doesn't appear to be fully based on the Romeo and Juliet director.
It's these elements — and more — that have already charmed Twitter.
AHHHHHHHHH FRENCH DISPATCH NATION RISE!!! pic.twitter.com/LgPVwl1lQj
— nicole (@adoreutimothee) February 12, 2020
AHHHHHHHHH FRENCH DISPATCH NATION RISE!!! pic.twitter.com/LgPVwl1lQj
— nicole (@adoreutimothee) February 12, 2020
stephen park in a wes anderson movie ... you love to see it https://t.co/cAVDM6DHGB pic.twitter.com/CbXeAjJ8w0
— karen han (@karenyhan) February 12, 2020
that's right i'm a basic bitch obsessed with a wes anderson movie in 2020
— iana murray (@ianamurray) February 12, 2020
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