By Ben Travis | Posted 16 Aug 2018

Ooh la la and sacré bleu – a matter of months after Wes Anderson caressed our eyeballs with another gorgeously-rendered stop-motion delight in Isle Of Dogs, news of his next film project has already started to emerge. The filmmaker looks set to head into uncharted territory for his return to live-action – with early reports indicating he’s working on a musical.

Following rumours that Anderson is planning a film set in post-war France, French publication Charente Libre is reporting that the film is expected to shoot in the city of Angoulême in the final months of 2018 – and that it will be a musical. It would be a fascinating change for Anderson – despite the regimented nature of his unique filmmaking style, his recent output has been more exuberant (the slapstick of The Grand Budapest Hotel and sci-fi elements of Isle Of Dogs, for instance). Characters bursting into song is still a surprising leap for him, but it’s always fascinating to see the director engage with new genres.

It won’t be the first time Anderson has looked to France for inspiration. Not only does he live in Paris, but 13-minute Darjeeling Limited prequel short Hotel Chevalier previously added a gallic flavor to Anderson’s signature style. And he’s got form with special soundtracks too – for The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou, he had Brazilian musician Seu Jorge record acoustic covers of David Bowie classics in Portuguese, which worked beautifully. Colour us very interested in this one – and yes, that colour is a slightly mustardy yellow.

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