Wes Anderson's 'The French Dispatch' Plot Revealed, Epic Runtime Rumor Debunked

Wes Anderson’s new film, The French Dispatch, featuring a collection of 20th-century stories published in the titular newspaper, is set to release later this year. This week, a rumor appeared on Twitter that the upcoming anthology would be a two-part, four-hour epic. That rumor began on IMDB, which listed the respective runtimes as one hour and 57 minutes and two hours and four minutes.

Thankfully, IndieWire has since debunked this rumor—Fox Searchlight has said that the film’s theatrical runtime will resemble Anderson’s other films. Also, available on Amazon France is a hardcover version of the film’s screenplay which will become available this spring. That listing has given us the first official synopsis of the movie:

The French Dispatch is the European edition of the Liberty, Kansas, Evening Sun – a factual, weekly report on the subjects of world politics, the arts (high and low), fashion, fancy cuisine/fine drink, and diverse stories of human interest set in faraway quartiers.

On the death of the editor-in-chief, the editorial staff decides to publish a last, memorial edition highlighting the three best stories which appeared over the 10-year existence of the magazine. The stories involve an artist sentenced to life imprisonment for a double homicide; student riots, and a kidnapping resolved by a chef.

The French Dispatch is stacked with a cast that includes Saoirse Ronan, Timothée Chalamet, Benicio del Toro, Frances McDormand, Jeffrey Wright, Adrien Brody, Léa Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Lyna Khoudri, Amalric, Stephen Park, Lois Smith, Owen Wilson, and Bill Murray. It has reportedly been shot in black and white with some animation and will, despite its dark subject matter, contain the type of colorful melancholy that has become Anderson’s signature. In honor of IMDB’s snafu, here is a ranked list of Anderson warm and fuzzy according to our illustrious internet database of movies.