'The French Dispatch' Trailer: 3 Things We Learned About Wes Anderson's New Movie

We finally got a look at the first trailer for Wes Anderson’s new film “The French Dispatch,” and it was definitely filled with all the quirky Anderson tropes and recurring cast members. Some fans might have noticed some new-comers though, along with a few other interesting details.

The Characters

As always, the colorful symmetry features frequent Anderson collaborators Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman (who also co-wrote this film), Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, and Adrian Brody -- but in addition, we have acclaimed actors Benicio Del Toro, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright and Léa Seydoux. Timothée Chalamet and Saoirse Ronan also star alongside each other in this film, their third time doing so after “Lady Bird” and “Little Women.”

“The French Dispatch” follows Murray as Arthur Howitzer Jr. who is the editor of the newspaper, French Dispatch, a “factual weekly report” that focuses on politics, the arts, and human interest stories. He is apparently based on Harold Ross, the co-founder of The New Yorker.

Wilson, Wright, McDormand and Swinton also play journalists working for The French Dispatch. Seydoux appears to play a prison guard, Del Toro plays an artist and Chalamet plays a young man involved in a revolution.

Liev Shriber, Kate Winslet, Henry Winkler, and Anjelica Huston, amongst many others, have also been cast in unspecified roles.

How the Story Is Set Up

The movie is broken down into separate sections, divided by their own distinct visual styles: at least one consisting of Anderson’s typical pastel colors and the others being entirely black and white. Anderson usually subverts typical storytelling tropes and three-act structures by dividing his stories into chapters or parts. While the set dressing is reminiscent of a theatrical performance, the story is written like a book.

The Setting

Anderson’s film settings aren’t usually all too familiar, as they are often set vaguely within a mid-century time period in an exaggerated ambiguous community. But this time around, we actually get a name and a place. “The French Dispatch,” as the name suggests, takes place in France, within a fictional city called Ennui-sur-Blasé. According to Collider, it’s being labeled as a 20th-century French city.

The film is expected to be released on July 24.