‘Asteroid City’: Read The Screenplay For Wes Anderson And Roman Coppola’s Latest Collaboration That Makes All Their Worlds A Stage

Jason Schwartzman and Jake Ryan in Asteroid City movie
Story Arc

(L-R) Jason Schwartzman and Jake Ryan in ‘Asteroid City’ Focus Features / Courtesy Everett Collection

Deadline’s Read the Screenplay series spotlighting the year’s most talked-about scripts continues with Asteroid City, Wes Anderson‘s latest film that had its world premiere at this year’s Cannes Film Festival.

Anderson penned the script with his frequent collaborator Roman Coppola after the two previously teamed on the Anderson-directed The Darjeeling Limited, Isle of Dogs, The French Dispatch and Moonrise Kingdom, the latter of which scored the pair an Original Screenplay Oscar nom in 2023.

Related Stories

‘asteroid city’: read the screenplay for wes anderson and roman coppola’s latest collaboration that makes all their worlds a stage
Festivals

Scarlett Johansson, Jason Schwartzman & More On How Wes Anderson Got The Best Of Their Absurdity In ‘Asteroid City’ – Cannes Studio

‘asteroid city’: read the screenplay for wes anderson and roman coppola’s latest collaboration that makes all their worlds a stage
Festivals

‘Asteroid City’ Review: Wes Anderson’s Latest Is Quirky, Creative & Obscure – Cannes Film Festival

The plot is set in 1955 and revolves around the American Southwest desert town of Asteroid City (population: 87), whose famed attraction is a giant meteor crater and observatory. The one-telephone-booth town is playing host to the military and astronomers honoring five Junior Stargazers with awards for their scientific inventions. It’s also the weekend celebrating Asteroid Day, commemorating September 27, 3007 BC, when that Arid Plains meteorite made impact.

It’s also the weekend an alien appears, after which the town goes into lockdown and the Army attempts to cover up the story. But the Junior Stargazers have a plan to get the word to the outside world anyway.

That’s the plot of the story, anyway, behind the real story, which is that Asteroid City is a play in preproduction in New York, with the lives of the actors playing out simultaneously to the action in the desert. Somehow in the middle of it all is the dissection of the big and the small, with reference points ranging from Sam Shepard and the Cold War to Elia Kazan and theater, and the American West.

Anderson regulars Jason Schwartzman (he plays a recently widowed, grieving father of three war photgrapher; Anderson said the part was written specifically for him to play), Scarlett Johansson, Jeffery Wright, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Tony Revolori, Liev Schreiber, Adrien Brody and Bryan Cranston star along with Tom Hanks, Steve Carell, Hong Chau, Maya Hawke, Rupert Friend and Stephen Park.

The pic hit U.S. theaters and June via Focus Features and has grossed $53.8 million at the global box office.

Click below to read the script:

‘asteroid city’: read the screenplay for wes anderson and roman coppola’s latest collaboration that makes all their worlds a stage

More from this Story Arc

Read The Screenplay Series

View All Story Arc

OTHER NEWS

12 minutes ago

Johnny Cash fans treated to batch of unreleased songs in new posthumous album

12 minutes ago

Armani Privé’s latest couture show proves pearls are timeless

12 minutes ago

Residents suffer water scarcity amid AAP-BJP's blame game: Delhi Cong chief

12 minutes ago

Strictly star Karen Hauer makes heartfelt tribute to late co-star

12 minutes ago

Ukraine vs Belgium: Euro 2024 prediction, kick-off time, team news, TV, live stream, h2h results, odds today

12 minutes ago

Who are Seventeen, the first K-pop act to perform at Glastonbury festival?

12 minutes ago

NYC ranked world’s most congested city — again: report

13 minutes ago

Czech Republic vs Turkey lineups: Confirmed team news, predicted XIs, injury latest for Euro 2024 today

13 minutes ago

Opal fees will increase across Sydney

13 minutes ago

Springboks star told he’s not a part of plans, leaves SA! – Report

13 minutes ago

FAQs answered on HOW to file a 2024 SARS tax return

13 minutes ago

Why Economists Are Raising China's Growth Forecasts

13 minutes ago

We still have a long way to go: Jessica Ennis-Hill on gender equality in sport

13 minutes ago

Designer creates staggering 'wind fence' that can revolutionize clean energy — residential cost savings could be huge

14 minutes ago

Trump’s endorsement is starting to show its limits

14 minutes ago

Rumor Roundup: Rhea Ripley return, Ludwig Kaiser injury, Ricky Starks, more!

14 minutes ago

Hollywood workers union reaches pay, AI-use deal with top studios

14 minutes ago

Seven West undertakes ‘bloody’ axing of management team

14 minutes ago

NATO appoints Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte as its next secretary general at a critical time for European security

14 minutes ago

Stock market today: Asian shares advance after Nvidia's rebound offsets weakness on Wall St

14 minutes ago

European press hammer England after dreary draw against Slovenia: ‘These Lions are kittens’

14 minutes ago

Man arrested in connection with Westminster ‘honeytrap’ scandal

14 minutes ago

Think England are bad? Potential last-16 opponents Netherlands in crisis after ‘appalling’ defeat

14 minutes ago

Bridgerton author defends show’s queer romance after fans left disappointed

14 minutes ago

17 times actors took method acting way too far

14 minutes ago

Giants news, 6/25: Jason Pinnock, Isaiah McKenzie, Marcus McKethan, more headlines

14 minutes ago

The spectacular rise and fall of the ‘Communist Concorde’

14 minutes ago

Sabrina Carpenter fans rage as Ticketmaster crashes during tour presale

14 minutes ago

Apple rejected Meta's attempt to put its AI on the iPhone, report says

14 minutes ago

‘It’s not fair that Djokovic is the villain while Federer and Nadal get love’

16 minutes ago

Treasury yields climb as investors weigh comments from Fed speakers

19 minutes ago

Man arrested over Westminster 'honeytrap' plot that saw Tory MP hand over contact details of colleagues to man he met on Grindr

19 minutes ago

Bentley's new £240k Continental GT Speed has just broken the top speed record for a car... driving underwater!

19 minutes ago

Aston Martin's new £2m retro hypercar: Just 38 examples of the F1-derived Valiant will be made - but you can't have one!

19 minutes ago

How Target Australia is taking on Big W with a bold new shopping move: 'Changes everything'

19 minutes ago

State of Origin game two LIVE: All the latest updates as NSW try to stop Queensland winning a third straight series

20 minutes ago

The cheeky parking app charges driving up costs for motorists

20 minutes ago

Halsey arrives on the red carpet at the premiere of 'MaXXXine'

20 minutes ago

DStv loses 900,000 subscribers as Netflix and other streamers ramp up competition

20 minutes ago

Wow: Woman shows off beautifully decorated mkhukhu, netizens impressed