7 Fantastic Movies To Watch Before Wes Anderson’s ‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Releases In May

It’s always an exciting time when a director as universally beloved as Wes Anderson announces a new movie.

As with his contemporaries Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Christopher Nolan, or Quentin Tarantino, audiences instantly sit up and pay attention whenever new details about an upcoming Anderson film come to light. Having produced an array of unique, visually stunning films over the past 30 years, Anderson has more than earned his laurels as one of the premiere filmmakers of the 21st century, as seen with his previous work on Moonrise Kingdom, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Rushmore, and – most recently – Astro City.

As we anxiously await the arrival of Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme (scheduled for release on May 30), we wanted to highlight a few films that could pair well with the director’s latest spy comedy film. From Hitchcockian thrillers to weighty biopics, here are seven exceptional films to watch before The Phoenician Scheme debuts in theaters.

The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004)

Anderson has always gravitated back towards familiar themes of family, friendship, and the bonds formed between fundamentally broken individuals. Just as The Phoenician Scheme seems set to explore the complex relationship between Benicio del Toro and Mia Threapleton’s estranged father-daughter duo, Life Aquatic finds Anderson examining the burgeoning relationship between Bill Murray’s deep-sea explorer and his previously unknown adult son. Bolstered by a constant sense of light-hearted adventure, Life Aquatic ranks as one of Anderson’s absolute best and most memorable projects to date, achieving the same visual and emotional splendor as The Royal Tenenbaums before it and Moonrise Kingdom far after it.

Birdman (2014)

While it’s highly unlikely Anderson looked to 2014’s Best Picture winner Birdman as a source of inspiration, there are certain apparent similarities between the director’s upcoming film and Alejandro G. Iñárritu’s devastating dark comedy. Both films feature an unlikely story of a father seeking to repair the estranged relationship he holds with his daughter, all the while trying to conquer a seemingly insurmountable task: I.E., developing an arid country in The Phoenciain Scheme and overseeing a Broadway play in Birdman. Facing constant challenges in their larger-than-life goals, both films utilize their high-concept narratives to focus on the idea of family and personal redemption (although Birdman also touches upon themes related to happiness, mental health, and long sought-after artistic ambition).

Charade (1963)

Veering into the espionage genre with The Phoenician Scheme, Anderson’s latest epic instantly invites comparisons to certain darkly comic thrillers that have come before it. Among similarly-veined films like My Man Godfrey and After Hours, audiences might look to 1963’s Charade as something of a precursor to The Phoenician Scheme’s tone and central plotline. An underrated Hitchcockian masterpiece with criss-crossing storylines and a variety of shady criminal characters, Charade cleverly balances out its espionage thrills with an utterly sensational sense of humor (something we’re sure Anderson will likewise accomplish with his upcoming venture).

The Aviator (2004)

To a certain extent, Benicio del Toro’s character within The Phoenician Scheme seems to owe a degree of inspiration to the famously eccentric 20th century tycoon, Howard Hughes. An impassioned pioneer in the aviation industry who also maintained a successful career as a Hollywood producer, The Aviator traces Hughes’ eventful life from his early childhood up to his repeated breakthrough in aeronautical design. The similarities between the two films might be minimal aside from the resemblance between Hughes and The Phoenician Scheme’s Zsa-zsa Korda, but The Aviator nevertheless remains a masterful biographical drama well worth your time and attention.

Fitzcarraldo (1982)

As mentioned previously, The Phoenician Scheme seems to heavily revolve around the development of an arid country by Benicio del Toro’s influential mogul. In certain instances, then, Anderson’s latest movie might invite a degree of comparison to 1982’s similarly sweeping epic Fitzcarraldo — an energetic adventure film focusing an industrious music lover who attempts establishing an opera house. Emphasizing the intense drive expressed by certain individuals in order to achieve their lifelong dreams, Fitzcarraldo also manages to underscore the unique challenges that await ambitious land developers – specifically those trying to construct their projects in the harshest environments imaginable.

Lawrence of Arabia (1962)

On the surface, it’s easy to see that Lawrence of Arabia and Wes Anderson’s films are about as tonally different as Star Wars and The Shining. But in the brief snippets of The Phoenician Scheme’s trailer, audiences seemed to witness some obvious allusion to 1962’s gargantuan historical epic, especially given the vivid desert scenery present in Anderson’s new film. To be sure, Lawrence of Arabia might not have the same irreverent comedic style as Anderson’s foremost movies, but the film’s expansive scope has a way of taking viewers’ breath away, whether through its massive length, rapturous characterization, or its triumphant score.

The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014)

Anderson has always excelled whenever juxtaposing two wholly different genres. Just as he seems poised to do with The Phoenician Scheme, The Grand Budapest Hotel shows off Anderson’s propensity for melding comedy, drama, and globe-trotting adventure into one seamless piece. Incorporating a plot involving suave hotel concierges, romantic lobby boys, stolen art pieces, and an old woman’s death, The Grand Budapest Hotel is quite possibly the best and most distinctly Andersonian of the director’s movies yet, bar none.