Wes Anderson has written seven films, he directed all seven of them. Number eight is The Fantastic Mr. Fox, an animated film he also wrote and directed and is currently finishing up for a 2009 release. Variety reports his next writing gig will be My Best Friend, a remake of the 2006 Patrice Leconte-directed French comedy Mon meilleur ami for Universal Pictures. While the article says he is eyeing it as a potential directing gig he isn’t actually set to direct it from the outset. To me, this is shocking.
Now, I am not a huge Anderson fan. My feelings on Rushmore are so-so. I couldn’t even finish The Royal Tenenbaums it annoyed me so much. The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou could have been so much better than it turned out to be. Hotel Chevalier was a cute little short, but nothing worth falling over. And I never watched The Darjeeling Limited out of an overall lack of interest. However, I love Bottle Rocket. I recently went to great lengths to describe my surprise at liking it as much as I did.
The one thing about all Anderson films though is how unique they all are. You can pretty much tell an Anderson film as soon as it starts. There is a certain look, feel and design to his pictures and I could never imagine anyone directing one of his scripts other than him. I may not be a huge fan, but he has plenty of them and if he adds his unique voice to the script and doesn’t end up directing it himself it will be an interesting test to see how his words are interpreted by another helmer.
The French flick of which My Best Friend will be based on centers on a cranky antiques dealer who learns at a dinner with his closest acquaintances that none of them really like him because of his harsh manner and selfishness. When his business partner bets him a valuable vase that he can’t produce a best friend, the dealer tries to get an amiable cab driver to pose as his buddy.
Should Anderson ultimately not direct the film who would be a logical replacement in your eyes? David O. Russell? Jason Reitman? Michel Gondry? Those are just a few names off the top of my head
