The Phoenician Scheme is an upcoming espionage thriller film directed by Wes Anderson from a script he wrote with Roman Coppola. The film will feature an ensemble cast including Benicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera, Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Riz Ahmed, Jeffrey Wright, Scarlett Johansson, Rupert Friend, Hope Davis, and Benedict Cumberbatch. An international co-production between United States and Germany, it will be produced under Studio Babelsberg as well as Anderson through his company American Empirical Pictures and Steven Rales through his company Indian Paintbrush.
Anderson talked about the film in June 2023 while promoting Asteroid City (2023), and saying that it had already been written before the 2023 WGA strike began. Later, in September 2023, he revealed that del Toro and Cera were planned to join the cast, and he hoped to begin filming soon after the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike was over. The rest of the cast members signed on between January and June 2024. Filming took place at Babelsberg Studio in Germany, between March and June 2024, with cinematographer Bruno Delbonnel. Frequent Anderson composer Alexandre Desplat returns to compose the score.
The Phoenician Scheme is scheduled to be given a limited theatrical release in the United States on May 30, 2025, by Focus Features, before expanding nationwide a week later on June 6.
