The project includes a selection of original sets, props, models, costumes and graphics present in the film presented at the latest edition of Cannes Film Festival. Asteroid City is set in 1955 in a fictional American desert town known for a meteorite crater and its astronomical observatory. The film tells of a conference of young astronomers and space cadets, which brings together students and parents from all over the country, shocked by mysterious events that will change the world.
The film features an ensemble cast of international actors such as Jason Schwartzman, Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber and Hope
Davis.
Asteroid City ironically evokes collective fears such as the atomic bomb and individual fears such as loneliness
Asteroid City was filmed in Spain, on the outskirts of Chinchón, a small town in the Community of Madrid. The sets were designed by Adam Stockhausen, a longtime Anderson collaborator and Oscar® winner for The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014). Anderson and Stockhausen took inspiration for the visual rendering of the landscape and urban spaces from Bad Day at Black Rock, the 1955 film starring Spencer Tracy directed by John Sturges. Other key references are the films Ace in the Hole (1951) and Kiss Me, Stupid (1964) by Billy Wilder and the classic It Happened One Night (1934) by Frank Goat. The buildings, their interiors and all
elements of the landscape – including the mountains, boulders and rocks – that viewers see on screen were created on a large scale and arranged to give the actors and crew the feeling of living in a real, fully functioning town.
The original sets and objects on display
We find extravagant pastel-colored vending machines with snacks, cigarettes, drinks and ammunition for the population of Asteroid City, a telephone booth, billboards, flags, street signs, graphics and many costumes, accessories and other objects related to the characters of the film, such as books , handwritten notebooks, musical instruments. These objects are arranged together with props to recreate sequences from the film. Furthermore, Roadrunner and Alien puppets designed by Andy Gent who collaborated with Anderson on Isle of Dogs (2018) and Fantastic Mr Fox (2009).
