Every so often, Wes Anderson gives us SFF folks a reason to talk about him—and Asteroid City is certainly one of those times. Set in a fictional American town in which a whole host of characters find themselves at a dramatic moment, it’s also a movie with an alien. Maybe? Maybe there’s not an alien? Maybe it’s a metaphor? Look, it’s just a trailer; you’re going to have to decide some things for yourself.
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The summary of Asteroid City is, unsurprisingly, not hugely forthcoming:
The itinerary of a Junior Stargazer/Space Cadet convention (organized to bring together students and parents from across the country for fellowship and scholarly competition) is spectacularly disrupted by world-changing events.
As is expected from an Anderson film, the cast list is long and star-studded, including Margot Robbie, Tom Hanks, Hong Chau, Scarlett Johansson, Adrien Brody, Steve Carell, Bryan Cranston, Willem Dafoe, Hope Davis, Matt Dillon, Grace Edwards, Rupert Friend, Jeff Goldblum, Maya Hawke, Ethan Lee, Sophia Lillis, Aristou Meehan, Edward Norton, Stephen Park, Tony Revolori, Jake Ryan, Liev Schreiber, Jason Schwartzman, Tilda Swinton, Rita Wilson, and Jeffrey Wright.
Based on the trailer, their characters include an actress; a widower who is reluctant to tell his kids their mother is dead; the kids’ grandfather; Jeffrey Wright as some sort of military? ish? leader; and a whole lot of other oddballs who are stuck in Asteroid City when a quarantine order comes down.
Asteroid City, which is co-written by Anderson and Roman Coppola, is not the director’s only film to appear in 2023; he’s also got the Roald Dahl adaptation The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar coming later this year.
Asteroid City has a limited release June 16th, and will expand to more cities on June 23rd.
