Focus Features has unveiled the first official trailer for The Phoenician Scheme, Wes Anderson’s thirteenth feature film, arriving in select theaters on May 30 with a wider release to follow on June 6. The espionage comedy follows Zsa-zsa Korda, a wealthy industrialist with ties to aviation and arms development, portrayed by Benicio del Toro. After surviving a series of near-fatal attacks, Korda initiates a sweeping plan tied to his sprawling business empire.
The trailer introduces Korda’s choice to designate his daughter, Liesl (Mia Threapleton), as the single inheritor of his assets – despite her religious devotion and their strained dynamic. Liesl is a nun, secluded from the world that defines her father’s influence. Together with her tutor Bjorn Lund, played by Michael Cera, she is pulled into the operations of the Korda enterprise and its vaguely defined but expansive “Land and Sea Phoenician Infrastructure Scheme.”
Shot on location at Studio Babelsberg in Germany, the film features production design steeped in Anderson’s precise visual cues. Anderson wrote the screenplay with longtime collaborator Roman Coppola. The original score is composed by Alexandre Desplat, marking another chapter in his long-running work with the director. Cinematography is by Bruno Delbonnel.
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Joining the central trio is a wide cast of familiar and new collaborators. Returning cast members include Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Bryan Cranston, Richard Ayoade, Mathieu Amalric, Scarlett Johansson, and Rupert Friend. New additions include Riz Ahmed, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hope Davis, and Mia Threapleton in her first collaboration with Anderson.
The film is produced by Anderson, Jeremy Dawson, and John Peet under American Empirical Pictures, alongside Steven Rales through Indian Paintbrush. Focus Features is distributing the film, continuing their association with the director after Asteroid City and Moonrise Kingdom.
Although the trailer is light on clear plot structure, it offers a glimpse into a surreal family drama framed by covert meetings, cryptic dialogue, and bureaucratic sabotage.
The Phoenician Scheme follows the critical success of Asteroid City and Anderson’s Oscar win for The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. This new feature continues his exploration of structured absurdity and intricate character relationships, rooted in finely controlled art direction and deadpan performances.
