The film is set in the 1920′s in a Hungarian hotel, so it‘s guaranteed to shatter box office records on those premises alone.

But if that’s not enough, he’s sweetened the pot with Brody and Swinton. And what a sweet pot it is.

Following news that Owen Wilson and Johnny Depp had signed on for Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel, Jude Law has taken the liberty of announcing he too will be in the film. Law told MTV that we could expect the “usual team” of actors, which almost certainly means we can get geared up for the involvement of Bill Murray.

At this point, all we know is that the film will take place in Budapest, and the main character (Depp? Wilson?) will be a psychic.

Hey! This Wes Anderson film is shaping up to be quirky. I’ll be damned!

Fun fact: Jude Law played the baby in Three Men and a Baby.*

*Not really, but you had to think about it for a second, didn’t you?

Raleigh St. Clair – The Royal Tenenbaums

The famous neurologist Raleigh St. Clair is renowned for his research but isn’t so astute when it comes to observing his own relationship. After suspecting that his wife no longer cares for him, he hires a private investigator to follow her. It’s revealed that she’s having an affair with a childhood friend and also smoking. Raleigh is more dismayed by the smoking.

Rat – The Fantastic Mr. Fox

Voiced by Willem Dafoe, Rat works as a guard to the evil farmer Bean’s cider room. The switchblade-wielding psycho gets a sick thrill out of defeating Mr. Fox whenever the opportunity presents itself. Do you know how hard it is to train a rat to stay in one place let alone use a switchblade? VERY, I’d assume.

That Kid Who Ends Up In Almost All of the Shots – Rushmore

Seriously. Who is this kid? He gets more facetime in this movie than Bill Murray. Hardest working extra in show business.

Dudley Heinsbergen – The Royal Tenenbaums

Raleigh St. Clair’s young research subject Dudley suffers from a rare disorder combining symptoms of amnesia, dyslexia, and color-blindness, with a highly acute sense of hearing. The results are both interesting and bizarre.

Mr. Littlejeans – Rushmore

Not only does he keep the grounds of Rushmore prep school well-maintained and sufficiently raked, but he often goes above and beyond by repairing damages caused to the campus by cut brakelines and students getting their hands on dynamite. He’s also a lover of the arts as evidenced by his critique of Max Fisher’s Vietnam saga Heaven and Hell.

Eleanor Zissou – The Life Aquatic

Anjelica Huston does wonderful work in Wes Anderson’s films but it’s her work as Eleanor Zissou — the ex-wife and benefactor to ocean adventurer Steve — that stands out as my favorite. Her brash, strong nature make her by far the toughest character in Wes Anderson’s universe. This is how the woman breaks bad news: “Your cat’s dead… a rattlesnake bit it in the throat.”

She’s even tougher than Future Man.

Dirk Calloway – Rushmore

Though their friendship had some bumps (Max trying to get a handjob from Dirk’s mom), Max Fisher found a true friend in Dirk Calloway. Who else would valiantly confront Herman Blume with the assertion, “Oh yeah and with friends like you who needs friends?” Say a prayer for Surf Boy. Wherever he is.

Dignan – Bottle Rocket

Dignan was the character who started it all. The excitable, heist-hungry man-boy who guided his friends into treacherous waters. He also served as the world’s first introduction to Owen Wilson. So it’s safe to say that without this role, it’s likely the world would never have the pleasure of knowing Dupree, wedding crashing, or that guy who got eaten by Anaconda.

Steve Zissou – The Life Aquatic

The eccentric caricature of Jacques Cousteau has to deal with a lot. Not only is he on a blood mission against the Jaguar Shark that ate his partner, he’s also forced to deal with his own sh*t when he meets a woman who doesn’t return his affections, opting to be with his illegitimate son instead. This and an unpaid intern uprising force Steve to realize that his youth is over and life is fleeting. Perhaps he shouldn’t spend the remainder of his on a vengeance quest.

Royal Tenenbaum – The Royal Tenenbaums

Anderson’s most flawed and arrogant character. And by extension the best. Whether he’s faking stomach cancer to get in good with his estranged family, or giving the grandfatherly advice, “I’m not talking about dance lesson. I’m talking about putting a brick through the other guy’s windshield. I’m talking about taking it out and chopping it up.”

I wish my granddad gave me that kind of advice. I would kill to have material like that.

Here are a few of the things we learn from the video.

• Bill Murray plays a man in the film.
• Wes Anderson wears short pants.
• Tilda Swinton can do whatever she wants.
• Bill Murray doesn’t watch films that he’s not in.
• Edward Norton gets a lot of psycho work.
• People in short pants get mugged more often than average-panted people.
• You can make your own pants at home using loud materials.

I hope this is a short pilot pitch for a series called Bill Murray on Film. Get after it, IFC.

Granted, I haven’t “seen” any of these films. And there are undoubtedly dozens of solid films that are still under my radar. And those films will probably feature strong turns by both actors and directors. But whatever, that won’t keep me from examining some of the strongest, most notable candidates for an award, going on experience and some educated guesses.

So this may not be the most subversive or even “accurate” Oscar prediction, and you’re not going to find any under-the-radar films and actors here. But you will find more than a few safe bets from known projects. Judging by the slate for 2012, we could see a lot more “Hollywood” films fill the ballots in the 2013 ceremonies, which always proves to be more satisfying, provided the popular films are the good ones.

Best Picture

The Dark Knight Rises
Lincoln
Life of Pi
Django Unchained
The Great Gatsby

The one thing these films have in common is each one is helmed by a great director, with Nolan, Spielberg, Lee, Tarantino, and Luhrmann all showing up in widely anticipated and rather big-budget movies. My early call is that Lincoln, with the reputations of Steven Spielberg and Daniel Day-Lewis behind it, will take the cake, with Life of Pi given a courtesy nod in this category. Nolan’s Dark Knight Rises could make a lot of noise if people lavish praise on the film for the scope of the production, but in the end, the heavier biopic will prevail.

Best Director

Wes Anderson – Moonrise Kingdom
Christopher Nolan – The Dark Knight Rises
Marc Webb – The Amazing Spider-Man
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln
Ang Lee – Life of Pi

It seems a little odd to have two comic book films represented here, but going off of the early sizzle reel I’ve seen from Spider-Man, Marc Webb is masterful at bouncing from bombastic action sequences to touching moments between Andrew Garfield and Emma Stone. Wes Anderson is back in our lives and hearts after the lukewarm reception of The Fantastic Mr. Fox, and I think he could get a lot of legacy goodwill in this category. Spielberg’s Lincoln is no-brainer given the man and the subject matter, and I think he’ll be the one to walk away with the bald gold guy.

Best Actor

Bill Murray – Hyde Park on Hudson
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
Leonardo DiCaprio – Great Gatsby
Sean Penn – Gangster Squad
Robert De Niro – Being Flynn

Everyone on this list but Murray and DiCaprio already have won their Oscars, and in the interest of appearing progressive (and not simply handing the award over to Daniel Day-Lewis, even though he’ll probably deserve it), they’ll bestow it upon Bill Murray, who’s distinguished career will come to a head with the most Oscar bait-y role he’s played so far. I think voters will be looking for an excuse to give it to him, but in this field, it’s a very tough call.

I’m hoping De Niro’s turn as a distant, homeless father in Being Flynn gets him out of the doghouse that he’s built for himself over the past decade. Sean Penn because, hey, Sean Penn, Leo because he’s just so damn handsome.

Best Actress

Blake Lively – Savages
Jennifer Lawrence – The Silver Linings Playbook
Sally Field – Lincoln
Toni Collette – Jesus Henry Christ
Maggie Gyllenhaal – Hysteria

Again, it’s hard to get too adventurous with these pics before the films have even been finished, so based on resume alone, I think we have a pretty strong group here. I think Field will be able to chew some serious scenery as Mary Todd Lincoln, and if she doesn’t get too terribly outclassed by her hubby, Mr. Day-Lewis, I think she’s the smart money here.

I think Hollywood wants to REALLY love Jennifer Lawrence, but seeing as how The Hunger Games is a little too mainstream for the snobs, she’ll get it in the David O. Russell film instead.

I’m also looking forward to Blake Lively in Oliver Stone’s The Savages, if only because she mastered a seedy role in The Town, and I’m eager to see her do it again as a beachy stoner. Toni Colette and Maggie Gyllenhaal because it wouldn’t be the Academy Awards without them, so why not both?

As you can tell, this has been a very scientific process, so let’s hear your thoughts in the comments if you’re feeling like yelling at us.

I’ve gone through the trailer below and picked out the elements that are classic Anderson. Have a look and let me know if I’ve missed any.

Awesome Wallpaper

Once Wes Anderson started getting larger budgets for his films, he immediately invested a good portion of that in awesome wallpaper. Even his films that take place on submarines and trains have really interesting walls. This design aesthetic was introduced for the most part in Rushmore but really hammered home with The Royal Tenenbaums. It looks like we can expect to marvel at the walls in Moonrise Kingdom as well. Sweet tent.

Overconfident Nerds

Another standard of Wes Anderson films are overconfident nerds. Moonrise Kingdom’s Sam seems cut from the Max Fischer cloth with his stern determination and absolute lack of fear. Reminds me of a young Bill Murray.

Of course, this a very subjective list, so feel free to leave your vitriol and death threats in the comments.

War of the Worlds – Steven Spielberg

A great example of what I discussed in the introduction. This film isn’t awful, but it’s very unmemorable. It bears very little of Spielberg’s flourishes, other than it’s a huge production that’s competently directed. Of course, the same thing could be said about a film like Roland Emmerich’s The Day After Tomorrow, or even 2012. There’s not much of a story to be told here, and instead of getting a moving relationship between Tom Cruise’s character and his children, we get sap and explosions.

Jack – Francis Ford Coppola

And here’s one that doesn’t need the context of expectations to disappoint. This is just a bad movie. Directing Robin Williams, especially in a film like this, can’t be fun. The man swallows all the attention around him, except in the most reserved roles. Watching a 40 year-old Williams play a 10 year-old boy who copes with his problems by getting drunk doesn’t play to sentimentality, and isn’t all that interesting of a story. The whole thing plays to the fact that Jack is going to die young, and that looming fate makes it hard to view the movie as anything but sad.

Well, if that’s true, then the following nine directors would just be awful, awful choices to helm the production.

Let me clarify: They would be awful for the tightasses at the academy. I would love it.

David Cronenberg

While Cronenberg doesn’t have any out-and-out hallmarks (just a general darkness and violence in his films), it would still be a blast to see what he would do with the Academy Awards ceremony. Perhaps he’d have one of the presenters betray another, causing a fistfight to break out, and forcing Hugh Jackman to repeatedly smash Halle Berry’s head on the steps until her body stops twitching. Perhaps during dance numbers, a shirtless Viggo Mortensen could idly walk through the production, staring daggers at Adrian Brody.

Tim Burton

Everyone would get super-excited about this year’s telecast being really dark and edgy, but would soon be disappointed to find that Johnny Depp and HBC are phoning it in, all the while realizing that Tim Burton’s not edgy anymore, he’s just kind of bad.

Perhaps the introduction could feature Christopher Walken stepping out in a top hat and spats, welcoming the audience to a “truly macabre finale to awards season.”

Also, everyone that was not a nominee would be dressed like a scarecrow.

David Fincher

Fincher could certainly bring a gritty sensibility to the polished-to-a-fault ceremony. He would find a way to make it rain during the entire telecast onstage, soundtracking even the most jovial moments with a low-fi Dus Brothers score.

Perhaps the telecast would end by focusing on the losers of the Best Picture Oscar, rather than the traditional approach of dwelling on the winner. All lights would be green and blue, and no one would ever laugh, ever.

We’ve also got our first look at Edward Norton looking a lot like a scout master (as opposed to real life, when he only sorta looks like a scout master). All in all, it looks like trademark Wes Anderson, who has managed to stick to a style with enough varying stories that audiences haven’t quite tired of his conventions the way that they have other auteurs that peddle in quirk.

While the plot of Moonrise Kingdom has been the subject of much speculation, a few details have emerged. Playlist conveys that this will be his first period film, set in 1960′s New England, in which a boy and girl fall in love and run away, turning their hometown upside down in the process. Sounds ripe for Anderson’s quirky characters and his obscure Kinks songs.

Welcome back, old friend.

Focus Features has acquired the rights to put Anderson’s latest film, Moonlight Kingdom, into US and foreign theaters. Anderson co-wrote the screenplay with Roman Coppola and will direct. Moonlight Kingdom stars Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand and Anderson’s super turbo BFF Bill Murray. The film’s about a young, small town couple who everyone thinks has disappeared, but really they just ran away together.

I hear rumors that the film will feature a preciously cool soundtrack and purposefully off-center framing, though I seriously doubt either rumor is true. (Hollywood Reporter)

The new movie, with the totally not hipster-y title Moonrise Kingdom, stars Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, and we’ve now learned, Schwartzman. Moonrise Kingdom takes place in the 60s, where two young people decide to run away together. This causes everyone in their town to panic and form a rescue party to find them. Hopefully there will be more than one scene in which Willis and Murray team-up to do awesome stuff.

Moonrise Kingdom begins shooting this Spring in Rhode Island. (Examiner)

A whole slew of actors want to play in Wes Anderson‘s quirky sand box. Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, and Tilda Swinton are all in talks to star in Moon Rise Kingdom, Anderson’s next directorial project that he wrote with Roman Coppola. A start date is set for next spring.

Moon Rise Kingdom is set in the 60s. Two young adults fall in love and run away. Leaders in their New England town are sticking the idea that they’ve disappeared and go in search of them. Norton will play a scout leader who brings his charges on a search. Willis is in talks to pla the town sheriff who’s also looking, and who is having an affair with the missing girl’s mother, the role McDormand is in talks to play. Murray, a regular in Anderson films, will play the girl’s father, who has his own issues.

Next spring leaves plenty of time for Murray to answer the messages that Anderson must be leaving on his 1-800 number. It’s the only way the eccentric funnyman will talk to anyone these days. I wonder how Anderson always seems to land him. Maybe they share the same taste in ironic t-shirts and music. It’s probably a really obscure band that you wouldn’t understand. (Deadline)

_{Bask in all the irony.}

Hipsters everywhere will soon have a reason to not be indignant with the movies. Wes Anderson, their poster boy director, is in the midst of making a new film. There aren’t many details yet, but The Playlist discovered that Anderson is looking for a 12-year-old boy and girl to fill the lead roles. I’m sure he’s camera testing them in wide-angled, meticulously art-directed shots. 

I’m a much bigger fan of Anderson’s animated directing effort Fantastic Mr. Fox that I am of his live action films. Perhaps him shooting his next film with young leads means he’s staying in touch with his inner child. Of course he’ll have to cram Jason Schwartzman in there somehow, but he’s compact and doesn’t take up too much of the frame.

Cast: George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Owen Wilson, Bill Murray

Synopsis: Angry farmers, tired of sharing their chickens with a sly fox, look to get rid of their opponent and his family.

In Fantastic Mr. Fox, cinema auteur Wes Anderson has decided to take his uniquely composed wide shots and apply them to the world of stop motion animal puppets. He still couldn’t part with at least one brother Wilson and Jason Schwartzman, but this time they merely provide the voices for their underground dwelling characters. It’s sure to be one heck of a good twitchy, off-putting, imaginative caper with enough George Clooney charm to spare. 

Below is a short music video from the soundtrack called Let Her Dance by The Bobby Fuller Four. It’ll give you a taste of the stop motion magic that comprises the entire film, and I gotta say I’m kinda diggin’ it. It reminds me of the old Rankin/Bass Christmas cartoons from the 70s, which is what I’m sure Anderson was going for. Maybe Heat Miser will even make a cameo appearance…

The Fox gang can berate him until he crawls back to his volcano home, the grumpy old bastard.

Dance along with the Fantastic Mr. Fox music video below. 

Fantastic Mr. Fox Music Video – Watch more Funny Videos