Wes Anderson is known for putting together massive ensemble casts of some pretty stellar stars, but it seems like The Grand Budapest Hotel will take the multi-tiered cake. Anderson has finally given a run-down of the cast list, confirming some rumors and putting to rest some old ones – I’m still disappointed about Johnny Depp – and I’ve got to say that the cast list really is impressive.
Everyone is here! No, really, it’s like all of Hollywood’s big-name character actors have turned out for this one. Bill Murray, Jeff Goldblum, Jude Law, Jason Schwartzman, Saoirse Ronan, and Ralph Fiennes were all announced awhile ago, so no surprises there. But wait! There’s more! Anderson mainstays Willem Dafoe, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody and Owen Wilson will also check into The Grand Budapest Hotel.
Take a deep breath, because it’s not over. Tilda Swinton, F. Murray Abraham, Harvey Keitel, and Mathieu Amalric, none of whom have been rumored up until now, are among the cast as well. Anderson will only say that Saoirse Ronan has “quite a big part.” No other direct details about who everyone will play are forthcoming – do we really care, with that cast? – but it’s likely to be rather quirky.
The Grand Budapest Hotel is set in Hungary about 85 years ago and was inspired by the work of Ernst Lubitsch and Billy Wilder, which should give us some idea of what to expect. With such inspiration and such a massive ensemble, I’m going to guess at a lot of intertwining storylines spurred on by misunderstandings, romantic and otherwise, and maybe a musical number (that one might be wishful thinking, but Lubitsch was known for his early musicals).
In any case, the cast sounds great, the premise intriguing and this is a Wes Anderson movie, so I will likely be there opening weekend.
Production on The Grand Budapest Hotel starts January 2013 with a likely release either at the end of 2013 or the beginning of 2014.
