Wes Anderson Phoenician Scheme Press Conference

Leave it to Wes Anderson to bring a touch of whimsy to the Trump tariff war.

Asked about Trump’s proposal to introduce a 100 percent tariff on “foreign-made movies,” at the Cannes press conference for his new feature, The Phoenician Scheme, Anderson played perplexed.

“I’m not an expert in that area of economics, but a 100 percent tariff? I feel like that means he’s (Trump’s) going to take all of the money, and then what do we get?” the director mused. “Can you hold up the movies in customs? I feel it doesn’t ship that way. I want to know the details, so I’ll hold off my official answer.”

Anderson and a busload of stars crammed into the Cannes press conference room to answer questions on his latest feature, which premiered in competition in Cannes Sunday night. Anderson was joined by a good chunk of the Phonecian Scheme ensemble cast, including Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Jeffrey Wright, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, and Richard Ayoade. Frequent Anderson collaborator Bill Murray, was also in attendence, in the audience, and jumped to his feet when Anderson and the rest of the cast entered, leading the crowd in welcoming applause.

The presser had the feeling of an Anderson film: Light, whimsical and full of laughs. Asked about the film’s themes of family, Anderson singled out his co-writer, Roman Coppola, and his daughter, sitting in the audience, and noted it was her 14th birthday. Murray quickly got both Coppolas to stand up and led the crowd in singing “Happy Birthday.”

The Phoenician Scheme stars del Toro as Zsa-zsa Korda, a shadowy 1950s industrialist who, after surviving another assassination attempt, begins contemplating his legacy. His solution? Install his estranged daughter Liesl (Threapleton), a novice nun, as heir to his corrupt empire — a proposition she warily accepts under strict conditions.

Set in the fictional Modern Greater Independent Phoenicia, the film blends Anderson’s signature visual stylings with a narrative that delves into inheritance, redemption and the moral ambiguities of power. THR‘s review said the film marked a return to form for Anderson after the meta misfires of The French Dispatch and Asteroid City. “The Phoenician Scheme…won’t have true haters reconsidering their options,” writes reviewer Lovia Gyarkye, but it will entice those who’ve been feeling alienated to rejoin rank.”

Anderson said he initially intended the film to be “rather dark” but that it “ended up somewhere else.”

Threapleton said she was stunned when she was cast, in her first major starring role. “I asked my agent to call them back,” she said. “She called me back and said ‘No, it’s not a mistake.’ Then I sat down [and had] a long cry.” The British actress, daughter of Oscar-winner Kate Winslet, said it has been a dream to work with Anderson since she was a kid. “I went back to my journals and I found, in 2013: ‘Watched Moonrise Kingdom again. I bloody love this film. I really wish I could work with Wes Anderson someday.”

U.K. comedian and actor Richard Ayoade, another Anderson newbie, joked he assumed it was “a clerical error” that he was cast in the film but that when he “discovered he he intend to make the mistake, I showed up…He is evidently one of the greats.” And it won’t be the last time the pair work together. Anderson announced he is co-writing his next, as-yet-untitled, film with Ayoade, alongside Coppola.

Anderson also indicated he was open to work again with Cera, even shaking on the deal in front of the gatherered journalists.

Cumberbatch said seeing Anderson work with the Canadian Superbad actor “was like God discovering water. [Michael] is such a natural element [for Wes] to have in his arsenal.”

This is Anderson’s fourth film to premiere at the festival after Moonrise Kingdom (2012), The French Dispatch (2021), and Asteroid City (2023).