Director Wes Anderson appeared to be in quite a comfortable position until some years ago. He’d make his inimitable movies on controlled budgets, and deliver dependable results at the box office. But things changed after the pandemic for him, as they did for the entire industry. Only one of his three post-pandemic releases has managed to pass the $50 mark worldwide, and his latest, The Phoenician Scheme, is poised to conclude its run having fallen significantly short of expectations. In fact, the ensemble drama is his lowest-grossing film in nearly two decades.

With $18 million domestically and another $17 million from overseas markets, the film’s cumulative global haul currently stands at $35 million. The Phoenician Scheme was produced on a reported budget of $30 million, which is roughly the same amount that Anderson’s last two films — The French Dispatch and Asteroid City — also cost. Of those two movies, only Asteroid City was able to pass the $50 million milestone at the worldwide box office; The French Dispatch concluded its run with around $45 million.

The Phoenician Scheme is currently playing in only around 300 domestic locations, which means that it will now have to rely on overseas revenue for a respectable finish. Starring Benicio del Toro alongside an expansive ensemble cast that also includes Michael Cera and Tom Hanks, the movie premiered at the Cannes Film Festival and earned mostly positive reviews. It holds a 78% score on the aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, where the critics’ consensus reads, “A caper made with all the intricacy of a Rube Goldberg machine, The Phoenician Scheme doesn’t deviate from Wes Anderson’s increasingly ornate style but delivers the formula with mannered delicacy.”

‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Is Set to Debut on Home Video

It’s Anderson’s lowest-grossing film since The Darjeeling Limited, which made around $35 million worldwide in 2007. A couple of years ago, the filmmaker delivered a quartet of acclaimed shorts for Netflix, one of which — The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — earned him an Academy Award. Also starring Riz Ahmed, Bryan Cranston, Mea Threapleton, Scarlett Johansson and others, The Phoenician Scheme is playing in theaters. The movie will debut on PVOD platforms in a few days.

via Collider