Wes Anderson on Trump's tariffs: "Can you hold up the movie in customs? It doesn’t ship that way"
Wes Anderson premiered his latest film, "The Phoenician Scheme," at Cannes and used the press conference to criticize Trump's 100% tariff on foreign films.
Wes Anderson premiered his last film, The Phoenician Scheme, at Cannes this Monday. The director used the film's press conference to mock one of President Donald Trump's most criticized measures: the tariff on products from other countries, and in this case, movies.
"Can you hold up a movie in customs? It doesn’t ship that way," the director said, causing a chorus of laughter from the crowd. He added afterwards that he was not an expert on the topic, but expressed his concern that Trump "is going to take all the money."
What are Anderson's movie plot about?
The movie was written by Wes Anderson and Roman Coppola, son of the well-known Francis Ford Coppola. The cast includes Benicio del Toro, Michael Cera, and newcomer Mia Threapleton, who is Kate Winslet’s daughter. Del Toro portrays Zsa-zsa Korda, a wealthy European business leader targeted by several assassination attempts.
Threapleton plays his estranged daughter, Sister Liesel, a nun with a habit of smoking and drinking. Michael Cera makes his debut in Anderson's group as Bjorn Lund, a cunning tutor. Other stars in the cast are Benedict Cumberbatch, Bill Murray, Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, and Bryan Cranston.
Movies could be affected if the 100% tariffs applied. (Photo: AFP News)
The Trump's tariffs measure on movies
Anderson's statements were in response to the 100% tariff on movies produced outside the U.S., announced by Donald Trump earlier this May. The announcement was made on Truth Social, adding: "This is a concerted effort by other nations and, therefore, a national security threat. It is, in addition to everything else, messaging and propaganda."
Neither the president nor Howard Lutnick, Commerce Secretary, provided any details on how the tariff increase would be implemented. However, Lutnick responded to Trump's comment on X with "We're on it." The measure could impact streaming services and their deals with producers to import their movies to other countries.
