News from the 2021 Cannes Film Festival brings long-awaited news for Wes Anderson fans, as it has just recently been announced that the auteur director's upcoming film, The French Dispatch will premiere at the 2021 Festival. Not only is The French Dispatch sure to be a highlight of the France-based festival, but it also marks Anderson's first film since the highly-acclaimed Isle of Dogs, which had its theatrical release in 2018.

Wes Anderson's newest film, which boasts a star-studded cast, was originally set to have its premiere at the 2020 Cannes Film Festival on May 12, following a July worldwide release. However, due to the global pandemic caused by COVID-19, the festival was hereby cancelled, and The French Dispatch was pushed to an October release date, until it was postponed yet again. The film is now scheduled to premiere at this year's Festival de Cannes, which will take place July 6 to 17.

The French Dispatch is said to have been inspired by Anderson's love of The New Yorker, and revolves around the stories published by a fictional magazine set in the fictional French city of Ennui-sur-Blasé. Anderson himself has described the story as "not easy to explain", and during an interview with French publication Charente Libre, the American director went on to say that film is "about an American journalist based in France, who fights to write what he wants to write."

The film features an ensemble cast of actors brand new to the Wes Anderson form including Benicio del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy, Sicario), Jeffrey Wright (Casino Royale, The Batman), Elisabeth Moss (The Handmaid's Tale, The Invisible Man), and Timothee Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name, Dune), and also stars the usual Wes Anderson suspects such as Jason Schwartzman (Rushmore, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) Bill Murray (The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, St. Vincent), Adrien Brody (The Darjeeling Limited, The Pianist), Owen Wilson (Fantastic Mr. Fox, Midnight in Paris), Tilda Swinton (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Marvel's Doctor Strange), Willeim Dafoe (The Grand Budapest Hotel, The Florida Project), Saorse Ronan (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Lady Birdy), Edward Norton (MoonriseKingdom, Fight Club), Léa Seydoux (The Grand Budapest Hotel, Inglorious Basterds), Frances McDormand (Isle of Dogs, 2021 Oscar winning Nomadland).

Needless to say, the newest film by the award-nominated The Grand Budapest director certainly has a ton of buzz surrounding it, based on the ensemble cast and Anderson's critical acclaim alone. It begs to question whether or not The French Dispatch will receive any Academy Award nominations come next year's awards season, given Anderson's past seven nominations, and zero wins thus far.

The French Dispatchis also a major addition to the line-up of the 2021 Cannes Film Festival, which for the first time since it's founding in 1946, was ultimately cancelled in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 outbreak. Only a small handful of films premiered at outdoor screenings. It will be interesting to see how the 2021 Cannes Film Festival fares during the global climate, and how many waves The French Dispatch will make among critics and audiences.