‘The Phoenician Scheme’ Exclusive Clip: Michael Cera Takes You Behind The Scenes Of Wes Anderson’s New Movie

You heard it here first — starting today (July 8), you can rent or own Wes Anderson’s The Phoenician Scheme digitally on PVOD platforms like Prime Video thanks to Universal Home Entertainment. The film follows Zsa-Zsa Korda (Benicio del Toro), a businessman who leaves his estate to his daughter (Mia Threapleton) and explores a new venture only to be targeted by terrorists, tycoons, and assassins, oh my! Along with the film’s digital debut, a new clip was released detailing the behind-the-scenes action of the new movie.

The video begins with several clipped scenes from the film of men shouting at each other. Korda flips a coin and asks the two men in front of him to call it. “Heads,” the two say in unison, and the coin lands on heads.

Over some behind-the-scenes footage of Riz Ahmed playing Prince Farouk, Anderson explains the character’s background: “His father, the king, is over the sovereign of the territory where much of the infrastructure is meant to happen.” Prince Farouk then states that his meeting to connect the train tracks is only “a formality.” We cut to Tom Hanks and Bryan Cranston standing side-by-side as Leland and Reagan. Leland replies, “Not anymore.” Anderson tells us that the men are “two brothers from California — the Sacramento Consortium, we call them.” 

In another scene, Korda is announcing how he and the other businessmen are to resolve their dispute: basketball. Cut to Leland throwing a perfect shot into a hoop attached to a train car. Michael Cera, who plays Norwegian tutor Bjorn, explains that this scene was “one of the most surreal moments” to film: “Mia and I are in the train car drinking our beer, and all the other guys had to be outside…pantomiming a basketball game.” While the actors silently played, Anderson would tell them to quiet down more. “He would be like, guys, quieter. Just be less, do less.”

Threapleton as Sister Liesl reacts to noise outside the car, and Leland lands another jumpshot. The exclusive clip ends with Cera expressing his joy over playing a part in the new film: “I was saying to Mia, like this is never going to happen again.”

You can rent or buy The Phoenician Scheme today on all Premium Video On Demand platforms.