Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” may be setting a record for the eccentric director.
With a box office so far of $14.3 million, “Phoenician” may be his lowest domestic gross since “The Darjeeling Limited” in 2007.
All that stands between “Phoenician” and “Limited” is 2021’s “The French Dispatch” with $16.1 million.
Anderson’s highest gross ever was eleven years ago with “The Grand Budapest Hotel” at almost $60 million.
What happened here? Lack of interest. No one knew what the movie was about, and Benicio del Toro is best used in supporting roles, not lead. He didn’t draw an audience.
But the failure of “Phoenician” wasn’t del Toro’s fault. Anderson must accept the fact that you can’t make one twee movie after another. They’ve all blended together. For a while his whimsy worked. He had a good run from 2001-2014. But the audience moved on.
You could tell Focus Features wasn’t looking for a lot of reviews ahead of release. I was offered three screenings, all at 10am. That is not a good sign. The film got a mixed 78% from critics on Rotten Tomatoes who went at that ungodly hour, but just a 70% from the audience.
Maybe I’ll see “Phoenician” on streaming, or at the end of the year.
One interesting note: Anderson’s money guy is Steve Rales, whose stepdaughter, Amaryllis, is RFK Jr’s daughter in law and ran his presidential campaign. Keep that in mind for “Jeopardy!”
