‘Bottle Rocket’ reunion soars to new heights as Wes Anderson, James L Brooks and Luke Wilson get stuck in elevator
Wes Anderson, James L Brooks, and Luke Wilson were forced into close quarters following a Q&A at the Academy Museum for a screening of Bottle Rocket earlier this week, when the trio found themselves stuck in an elevator for around half an hour.
The Los Angeles Fire Department was called to liberate the Bottle Rocket stars and a team of several other people trapped in the elevator.
A video depicting the incident is being shared around social media. In the clip, Anderson asks the fire crew, “Do you have any theory as to what was wrong with it?” and a firefighter can be heard answering, “Probably had too much weight in it.”
The elevator in question is not accessible to the public; as per Variety, it appears to be one that exits to the outdoor museum courtyard adjacent to the valet parking area.
Bottle Rocket was Anderson’s directorial debut; it adapted a 1993 short film already produced into a full-length feature film.
The fan-favourite film starred Luke Wilson, alongside brother Owen, and their getaway driver, played by Robert Musgrave, who are desperate to escape suburban boredom. Thus ensues a life of crime, reaching its apex with a bank robbery.
From July 10th, the Hollywood Bowl is hosting a three-night concert series spotlighting the music in the Wes Anderson universe.
Friends of Anderson are pulling out all the stops to make it an affair to remember, with guest appearances from long-time collaborator Bill Murray, who has appeared in nine Anderson movies, as well as Devo’s Mark Mothersbaugh, Beck and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs’ Karen O.
Far Out gave Anderson’s most recent movie, 2025’s The Phoenician Scheme, a two-star review, observing, “The plot chugs along and grasps at new beats to justify its existence, but it feels entirely unmotivated and uncompelling, with no emotional depth to the central relationship to make us care about anything happening on screen.”
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