Asking a Wes Anderson fan if they’re stoked to see Asteroid City is like asking a little kid if they’re excited for Christmas — of course they are. Although, to be fair though, I get pretty jazzed for the holidays too.
Now, where was I… Asteroid City is going to be an absolute banger. Mark my words, Wes Anderson’s upcoming alien-themed romp through the American West is shaping up to be unlike anything the eccentric filmmaker has ever done.
Check out the trailer below, it’s about as Wes Anderson-y as a Wes Anderson movie trailer can get.
Housing a star-studded cast, including the likes of (deep breath) — Adrien Brody, Tilda Swinton, Margot Robbie, Jason Schwartzman, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Liev Schreiber, Tony Revolori, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Hanks, Jack Ryan, Scarlett Johansson, Hong Chau, Maya Hawke, Rita Wilson, and Sophia Lillis — June 23 can’t come soon enough.
Amongst this list of Hollywood A-listers, few hold more starpower than Tom Hanks. Although, frankly, all the folks involved in this project are legends in their own right. Oddly enough, Hanks has never worked with Anderson before, and now looks to etch his name in Wes Anderson’s world of quirky delights.
In a recent interview with IndieWire, Anderson took the time to chat about his movie and how he got Tom Hanks on board.
“By the time I had the chance to work with Tom Hanks on this movie, he had crossed a sort of threshold into being more iconic. He’s a full-on icon now. If I’d worked with him in 1998 or something, he would’ve been a big movie star, but not a legend. He expanded over those years. I’d met him very briefly a couple of times over the years and I had his email address. When I was working on this movie, I thought he’d be perfect for this because he’s interested in the 20th century history of America. We’ve seen him pursue this era in his work.”
I couldn’t have said it better myself. There was certainly a time when Tom Hanks was just a big, if not iconic, movie star. Now though, as his list of performances only continues to grow — so too does his legend.
So how does one go about asking a legend to lend you his talent? Well, according to Wes Anderson, that’s the easy part.
“It was pretty simple: I wrote him, said I had this, and asked him to read it. He wrote me back and said, ‘When are the dates?’ He’s the kind of person where he’s going to make everything work better and more smoothly. He’s going to do things to help you make the movie. Then also Rita (Wilson) his wife came with him and she’s in the movie. Their enthusiasm helps make everything better. And on top of that, they have a son who works on our movies too now, and stayed on with us after Asteroid City.”
The truth is, actors far and wide have always jumped at the chance to be in a film by Wes Anderson. Why would Tom Hanks be any different? If the job is to express yourself, try new things, and have a little fun — who better than Wes? All anyone can do now is sit around and wait for Asteroid City to make impact. Brace yourselves.
