Not many artists can assume the impact of their work before it’s released out onto the world, but from Wes Anderson‘s early days, he knew how special everything that goes into his films would one day be to the masses. From Max Fischer’s sports jacket and beret in “Rushmore” to Auggie’s camera and pipe in “Asteroid City,” every detail in an Anderson film is intricately and thoughtfully designed, so much so that Cinémathèque Française in Paris has decided to honor the Texas-born auteur with his first career retrospective.
As per The New York Times, Anderson has been carefully storing and keeping track of his films’ paraphernalia ever since Columbia Pictures sold materials off his first feature “Bottle Rocket” without his consent. For two-and-a-half years, curators from Cinémathèque Française and the Design Museum in London pored over a treasure trove of items locked away in Anderson’s storage facility in Kent, England to create the first museum exhibition of his work. Opening this past week on Wednesday, March 19 with Anderson himself present to deliver a speech, the show will run until July 27 before transferring to the Design Museum, where it will be on display from November 26, 2025 until July 26, 2026.
Want to see Margot Tenenbaum’s lavish fur coat? How about Sam’s thoroughly badged-up scout uniform from “Moonrise Kingdom”? Some of the most famous costumes featured in Anderson’s films will be on display, with the entire show consisting of over 500 exhibits. These include the candy-colored hotel model that opens “The Grand Budapest Hotel,” the martini vending machine from “Asteroid City,” the custom-designed Louis Vuitton luggage from “The Darjeeling Limited,” and even storyboards from Anderson’s personal notes. For fans of his stop-motion animated work on “Fantastic Mr. Fox” and “Isle of Dogs,” the retrospective will also showcase character models from both films, highlighting the detail that goes into his designs.
This may not be the only celebration of Anderson taking place in France, as his 12th feature film (13th if you count “The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar and Three More” as one) may debut at Cannes this May. Featuring returning Anderson players Benicio del Toro, Tom Hanks, Benedict Cumberbatch, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Bill Murray, and Willem Dafoe, “The Phoenician Scheme” is also set to bring new talent to his sandbox with Michael Cera, Mia Threapleton, and Riz Ahmed also along for the ride. The film is described as an espionage thriller that follows a complicated father-daughter relationship within a family business.
“The Phoenician Scheme” marks the first time Anderson has made a feature without loyal cinematographer Robert Yeoman, instead opting for the project to be lensed by Bruno Delbonnel. Longtime collaborator Roman Coppola is credited as co-writer on the script, their first shared credit since their Oscar-nominated screenplay for “Moonrise Kingdom,” though Coppola did receive a story by acknowledgement for “Isle of Dogs” alongside Anderson, cousin Jason Schwartzman, and Kunichi Nomura. The official release date for “The Phoenician Scheme” is May 30.
