Poster © Focus Features. Shown at reduced size for review and commentary.
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GenreFeature film
RatedPG-13
Runtime1 hr 41 mins
ReleasedMay 30, 2025
StreamingSee Where to Watch
DirectorWes Anderson
StarringBenicio del Toro, Mia Threapleton, Michael Cera
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The Phoenician Scheme (2025)
| ▶Stream It | ★The Numbers |
| 🎫Get Tickets | ✎Edit History |
| iIMDb Profile | %Rotten Tomatoes |
| WWikipedia | LLetterboxd |
| TTMDB | +Add to Top 8 |
| The Phoenician Scheme's Details | |
| Genre | Feature film |
| Rated | PG-13 |
| Released | 05/18/2025 (Cannes); 05/29/2025 (Germany); 05/30/2025 (United States) |
| Streaming | See Where to Watch on this page. |
| Running Time | 1 hr 41 mins |
| Budget | $30M (reported) |
| Box Office | Updated daily from Box Office Mojo. See the numbers below. |
| Country | United States, Germany |
| Language | English |
| The Phoenician Scheme's Interests | |
| General | Infrastructure plans, private planes, bug collections, convents, business meetings with a side of blackmail. |
| Music | Alexandre Desplat |
| Movies | The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). More Anderson, more pastel, more danger. |
| Television | Succession. Another rich, ruthless dad with a very complicated family business. |
| Heroes | Sister Liesl. Keeps her cool around a dad like this. That takes faith. |
| The Phoenician Scheme's Crew | |
| Director | Wes Anderson |
| Writers | Wes Anderson, Wes Anderson (story), Roman Coppola (story) |
| Producers | Wes Anderson, Steven Rales, Jeremy Dawson, John Peet |
| Cinematography | Bruno Delbonnel |
| Music | Alexandre Desplat |
| Edited By | Barney Pilling |
| Production | Indian Paintbrush, American Empirical Pictures |
| Distributed By | Focus Features (United States), Universal Pictures (international) |
Financing a construction project is the plot of Wes Anderson's gorgeous new movie, and somehow it feels exactly like that sounds. The Phoenician Scheme is perfectly framed, crowded with stars and more fussy than fun, a caper made of so many business meetings that it starts to feel like an audit. Benicio del Toro plays Zsa-Zsa Korda, a ruthless tycoon in 1950 who has survived one too many attempts on his life and decides it’s time to patch things up with his daughter Liesl, a nun in training, by dragging her into his biggest deal. Michael Cera plays Bjørn, his Norwegian assistant and a bug expert, the most Wes Anderson job ever. Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston and a parade of famous faces drop in for a scene apiece. It’s easy to admire and easy to forget by dinner. Critics landed at 77% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences gave it a B-minus CinemaScore. A 6.4 because the craftsmanship is stunning and the feeling underneath is faint. $25.07 says you straighten a picture frame tonight and still think it’s a little off center.
What works: Every frame is gorgeous and transporting, built with the clockwork precision Anderson fans come for, and nearly every scene brings in another famous face.
What doesn’t: The plot is a fussy string of business meetings, and the deadpan style keeps the feeling at arm’s length until it’s too late to care.
Who it’s for: Wes Anderson completists and anyone who pauses movies to admire the set design.
Spoilers
Korda’s half-brother Nubar turns out to be the one behind the attempts on his life, and he’s stopped at the big presentation. Korda ends up broke but at peace with Liesl, the two run a small bistro together, and Bjørn, a spy who switched sides, proposes to her.
It's 1950, and Anatole "Zsa-Zsa" Korda (Benicio del Toro), a stateless arms dealer and industrialist, has just survived his sixth assassination attempt. Figuring his luck has limits, he tries to reconnect with his daughter, Sister Liesl (Mia Threapleton), a nun in training, and pulls her into his biggest project yet: rebuilding the infrastructure of Phoenicia. Problem: a group of world governments is quietly driving up the price of materials to sink him. So Korda, Liesl and his Norwegian assistant Bjørn (Michael Cera) hit the road to squeeze his partners, played by Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Jeffrey Wright and more. Wes Anderson directs. One hundred one minutes, perfectly centered.
Anyone who can keep a straight face in a perfectly symmetrical room. Nuns welcome.
| Benicio del Toro | Anatole "Zsa-Zsa" Korda |
| Mia Threapleton | Sister Liesl |
| Michael Cera | Bjørn Lund / Bjørn Karlsen |
| Riz Ahmed | Prince Farouk |
| Tom Hanks | Leland |
| Bryan Cranston | Reagan |
| Mathieu Amalric | Marseille Bob |
| Richard Ayoade | Sergio |
| Jeffrey Wright | Marty |
| Scarlett Johansson | Cousin Hilda Sussman-Korda |
| Benedict Cumberbatch | Uncle Nubar Korda |
| Rupert Friend | Excalibur |
| Hope Davis | Mother Superior |
| Alex Jennings | Broadcloth |
| Stephen Park | Korda's pilot |
| F. Murray Abraham | a prophet |
| Charlotte Gainsbourg | Korda's first wife |
| Willem Dafoe | Knave |
| Bill Murray | God |
| Jason Watkins | the notary |
- (cur | prev) 14:30, 19 October 2026 DataBot +560 Numbers refreshed: Worldwide box office $40.6M; Domestic box office $19.6M; Opening weekend $560K; Profit / loss (est.) -$24.7M; Rotten Tomatoes 77%; CinemaScore B−; box office chart updated; Rotten Tomatoes critics 77% (303 reviews); Metacritic 70 / 100; Rotten Tomatoes audience 70% (1,000+ verified ratings); PostTrak audience 81% positive; CinemaScore B−; IMDb users 6.6 / 10 (74,419 votes); movie.guru score 5.6.
- (cur | prev) 12:00, 19 October 2026 DataBot +2,000 Profile created from Wikipedia and Box Office Mojo: cast, crew, release dates, budget, official trailer.