Wes Anderson’s commercial appeal, which was always limited, might be wearing off, going by the mediocre response to his latest film, The Phoenician Scheme.
Despite his popularity in some cinephile circles, Anderson has always struggled to crossover into the mainstream. He’s been making movies with controlled budgets, earning critical acclaim, and generating respectable profits to cover the production expenses, if not to generate profit.
The Phoenician Scheme, however, has opened with a lower CinemaScore grade than his recent projects, which represents a major concern for the indie director, who’s based in Paris.
The movie earned a B- grade from the viewers that watched it on its first day of wide release.
The Phoenician Scheme debuted in 6 locations last week, delivering the year’s best limited debut, and it’s expected to gross around $6 million this weekend.
Produced on a reported budget of $30 million, a considerable amount for the director’s movies, The Phoenician Scheme’s B- CinemaScore is lower than the B that his last feature, Asteroid City, opened two years ago.
Asteroid City ended up grossing $55 million worldwide, against a budget of around $25 million.
In 2021, The French Dispatch, which had also debuted in Cannes Fest, generated around $45 million globally against a reported budget of $25 million as well.
Anderson’s debut stop-motion film, the Roald Dahl adaptation Fantastic Mr. Fox, earned a B+ grade on CinemaScore and earned $46 million worldwide.
In a career spanning almost three decades, Anderson’s only real breakout hit was The Grand Budapest Hotel, which made over $170 million globally over a decade ago, and was his only film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar.
Headlined by Benicio del Toro, The Phoenician Scheme is currently sitting at a 79% Rotten Tomatoes score.
We have seen the world premiere at the Cannes Film Fest, where we graded it in an international poll as C+ (or ** out of *****).
Anderson’s latest was one of the weakest movies in Cannes Main Competition, with many critics wondering why the chief of the prestigious event has been so loyal to him?
Also starring Jeffrey Wright, Michael Cera, Riz Ahmed, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Benedict Cumberbatch, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Willem Dafoe, Rupert Friend, Richard Ayoade, Mathieu Almaric, Hope Davis, Mia Threapleton, and Bryan Cranston.
Released by Focus Features, The Phoenician Scheme is playing in theaters right now, but it is expected to lose screens next week and disappear from the theaters by the end of the month.
