Production On Wes Anderson’s Stop-Motion Dog Movie Has Begun
Wes Anderson’s quirky style has only continued to fascinate audiences ever since he debuted his first film, Bottle Rocket, in 1996. But as time has gone by, the writer-director has faced both cynicism and overwhelming praise for his work. Nevertheless, Anderson is a unique filmmaker who’s signature stamp on every frame of his work has become as easily spottable as someone like David Fincher’s or Tim Burton’s.His latest film back in 2014, The Grand Budapest Hotel, was the epitome of his colorful visual style, wonderfully child-like characters, and sharp humor. It was also the highest grossing of Anderson’s career, garnering just over $174 million worldwide.
That said, his growing popularity with moviegoers translates to that much more anticipation for his upcoming works. But with Anderson’s films becoming increasingly complex and strict in what is put into every frame, it seems like it would be harder to move solely to bigger and bigger projects if he intends to maintain that auteur style. And with the success — and near perfectness — of The Grand Budapest, fans have been wondering what the filmmaker would be doing next.
Thankfully, that question has been answered because apparently, production on his next project has already begun. In an interview with GQ (via The Playlist), Anderson revealed that his next film will be in fact be a stop-motion movie that centers around dogs. Unlike most Hollywood filmmakers, Anderson delivered the news about his upcoming project in a very nonchalant way.
“I’ve got an animated movie I’m doing that’s happening across the room from me right now. So I can see a long list of e-mails from people on the set whom I now need to address.”
For any fans of Anderson out there, this is fantastic news because one of the filmmakers most well-received works was his 2009 stop-motion masterpiece, Fantastic Mr. Fox. The film was a match made in heaven which brought Roald Dahl’s heartfelt story with Anderson’s wacky personality together. Not only is the news of Anderson doing another stop-motion movie exciting, he’s also bringing back some of his old team, too.
Get ready to scream with joy because Anderson’s new film already has Jeff Goldblum, Bill Murray, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton and Bob Balaban attached to star. Those stars alone—despite him probably adding more big names soon—are enough for any Anderson fan to feel like this will be yet another strong mark for the filmmaker. However, we don’t know too much else at this point.
Anderson did not reveal how far into production the film is, nor did he share an expected release date. But considering just how long stop-motion animation takes, it should be a long while before we see it on the big screen. Sad as that may be, at least we know what’s on the horizon. It will be interesting to see if Anderson takes a similar approach in crafting his new film as he did with Fantastic Mr. Fox. We will just have to wait and see.
We will keep you updated as more information becomes available.