Cast member Benicio Del Toro and director Wes Anderson attend a press conference for the film "The Phoenician Scheme" in competition at the 78th Cannes Film Festival in Cannes, France, May 19, 2025. REUTERS/Sarah Meyssonnier
Filmmaker Wes Anderson spoke about President Donald Trump at the annual Cannes Film Festival, expressing his disdain for the new tariffs on the film industry.
It followed an announcement by Trump earlier this month that, he wanted “MOVIES MADE IN AMERICA, AGAIN!”
“100% tariff on any and all Movies coming into our Country that are produced in Foreign Lands."
According to Trump, filming in the desert in Tunisia as "Star Wars" did, could pose "a national security threat" to the United States. And filming outside of the U.S., Trump claimed, is causing the film industry to die "a very fast death."
Anderson, known for a signature color style and symmetric cinematography in movies including The Royal Tenenbaums and The Fantastic Mr. Fox, questioned how a 100% tariff would work in an industry that doesn't sell a film on a website and ship it internationally for people to purchase and own, as Rolling Stone explained on Monday.
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“The tariff is interesting because I’ve never heard of a 100 percent tariff before,” Anderson said. “I’m not an expert in that area of economics, but I feel that means he’s saying he’s going to take all the money. And then what do we get? So it’s complicated to me. Can you hold up the movie in customs? It doesn’t ship that way.”
He confessed during a press conference during the festival that when he was asked about it, he didn't quite understand.
“I thought you said he was giving us a plug or something,” he told Rolling Stone. “Did Trump see it?”
A Variety report earlier in May said that the industry is confused about how such a tariff would work.
“This makes no sense,” a U.K. producer railed to Variety. “It implies that a U.S. film is meant to shoot in the U.S. But the ‘Harry Potter’ films, ‘Lord Of The Rings,’ ‘Schindler’s List,’ ‘Mission Impossible,’ ‘Gladiator,’ ‘Avatar’ and so many more are U.S films that shot overseas for obvious reasons. Do these films have to shoot in the U.S. from now on? It’s an absurd announcement with no meaning nor understanding of storytelling or creative impulses.”
“We have understood that the U.S. has become an enemy, politically and culturally,” said French director Pierre Jolivet in an interview with Politico over the weekend.
Variety also noted that actor and producer Mel Gibson, who Trump named to be one of three special ambassadors to Hollywood, is in an awkward position as he's about to begin filming a sequel to "The Passion of the Christ" in Italy.
Anderson's latest film, "The Phoenician Scheme," will be widely released on June 6.