The first trailer for Wes Anderson’s ‘The French Dispatch’ is here

Anticipation is mounting for Wes Anderson’s upcoming film The French Dispatch. The director’s first release since Isle of Dogs will hit theatres in July, and you can now watch its star-studded trailer.

The movie’s full title is The French Dispatch of the Liberty, Kansas Evening Sun. The action centres on a magazine called “The French Dispatch”, which is a supplement of the “Evening Sun” newspaper (distributed out of Liberty, Kansas).

The trailer’s voiceover gives us a history of the magazine’s development. Its founder, Arthur Howitzer Jr. (played by Bill Murray), was a travel writer based in the US. He visited France on holiday but never left, which led to the creation of “The French Dispatch”.

Inspired by Anderson’s love of The New Yorker, The French Dispatch is “a factual weekly report on the subjects of world politics, the arts high and low, and stories of human interest.”

Watch: The French Dispatch official trailer

Murray’s Howitzer assembled a team of fellow American expats as the magazine’s staff. These include J. K. L. Berensen (Tilda Swinton), Lucinda Krementz (Frances McDormand), Herbsaint Salzerac (Owen Wilson) and Roebuck Wright (Jeffrey Wright).

The action takes place at an unspecified moment in the 20th century. Wardrobe and set design indicate it’s post-war but pre-1970s. Regular Anderson collaborators Jason Schwartzman, Edward Norton, Anjelica Huston, Willem Dafoe and Adrien Brody also appear in the film. Saoirse Ronan returns for her second Anderson project, and brings along regular co-star Timothée Chalamet.

Anderson wrote the film with Roman Coppola, Hugo Guinness and Jason Schwartzman. Coppola and Schwartzman also co-wrote Isle Of Dogs and The Darjeeling Limited. Guinness is best known as a New York Times illustrator, but he worked with Anderson on the story for The Grand Budapest Hotel.

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