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Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson are looking to recreate the magic of their early careers in The Darjeeling Limited set to begin production in December. Owen Wilson, who had early success with Anderson in Bottle Rocket (1996), Rushmore (1998), and The Royal Tenenbaums (2001), has signed on to play one of three brothers who take a mysterious journey through India. Anderson has joined with cousins Roman Coppola and Jason Schwartzman to develop the script. The collaboration brings together two successful pair of film partners, Coppola and Schwartzman who most recently worked together on Marie Antoinette (2006), and Anderson and Owen whose last collaboration was on The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou (2004).
Coppola and Schwartzman have previously worked together on the 2001 French production CQ with Coppola writing and Schwartzman starring. The film followed a young filmmakers quest to produce science fiction features. This is the first time however that both have worked together to pen a screenplay. Their situation is rather reversed with regard to Anderson and Wilson, who most commonly did write together as well as Wilson holding both credited and uncredited roles in Andersons films, as was the case in Rushmore; however, Wilson is said to have chosen not to sit in on the creative process for this film.
While the script is reportedly locked, the real life “Darjeeling Limited” was a British East India Company train line that operated in the lower Himalayas and transported British soldiers from the colonial India to a military sanitarium located on the Sikkim border. The former military installation and the current tourist attraction hold commanding views of Mount Everest and Mount Kanchenjunga. Darjeeling is popularly known as the “Queen of the Hills” and produces the famous Darjeeling Tea, one of the world’s finest teas. It is also home to the Darjeeling Himalayan Railway, a World Heritage Site. Should Anderson take the lead with directing as well, audiences can be sure to see incredible vista views as well as the trademark comedic camera angles and wide shots that have earmarked Anderson’s previous successes.
Wes Anderson is also signed on to work on The Fantastic Mr. Fox, a stop action feature currently in preproduction for Sony Pictures. We had originally reported that Wilson would next work on this project but even though very likely that remains to be seen.
