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The Phoenician Scheme 2025

Movie · 101 min · English · May 18, 2025

Directed by Wes AndersonWritten by Wes Anderson

Starring Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Beatrice Campbell, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed

The Phoenician Scheme is a 2025 black comedy espionage thriller created, produced, and directed by Wes Anderson based on a concept he developed with Roman Coppola. This movie presents an ensemble cast featuring Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Mathieu Amalric, Richard Ayoade, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, F. Murray Abraham, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe, and Bill Murray. The narrative centers on a merciless industrialist (del Toro) attempting to mend his relationship with his distant daughter (Threapleton) while finishing a large-scale development initiative in Phoenicia. Production occurred across the United States and Germany through Anderson’s company American Empirical Pictures and Steven Rales's production house Indian Paintbrush.

During an interview in June 2023 promoting Asteroid City, Anderson mentioned that the screenplay was already completed prior to the commencement of the 2023 WGA strike. In September, he disclosed that del Toro and Cera were intended for the cast, with hopes to commence shooting shortly after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike concluded. Additional actors joined between January and June 2024. Principal photography occurred at Babelsberg Studio in Germany from March through June 2024, under the direction of cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel. Longtime Anderson collaborator Alexandre Desplat returned to create the soundtrack.

The Phoenician Scheme made its debut in the main competition section of the Cannes Film Festival on May 18, 2025. It was theatrically distributed in Germany by Universal Pictures on May 29, 2025 and in the United States by Focus Features on May 30, 2025. Critics responded favorably to the film.