If you can name them, then they’re probably in Wes Anderson’s Asteroid City: Tom Hanks, Jason Schwartzman, Jeffrey Wright, Tilda Swinton, Bryan Cranston, Edward Norton, Adrien Brody, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Steve Park, Rupert Friend, Maya Hawke, Steve Carell, Matt Dillon, and on and on. So, Scarlett Johansson and Jeff Goldblum, two other famous movie stars in the film and with heights and physical skills on opposite ends of the spectrum, found themselves in the gym together, leaving Johansson, the shorter of the two, struggling to keep up.
In an interview with Discussing Film, Scarlett Johansson recalled how impressed she was by Jeff Goldblum’s treadmill speed when filming Asteroid City. The star of Lost in Translation stated:
“It was inspiring. Massive. He’s a tall, tall person. Yeah, for everyone of his steps, I took, like, four. And he was just slowly walking”.
Scarlett Johansson’s character in Asteroid City, Midge Campbell, is an aspiring actress who is often down on her luck. Along with some other people, she finds herself trapped in Asteroid City. Her character seems more concerned with boosting her profile and courting Schwartzman’s recently bereaved protagonist than she does with stopping the alien invasion.
When asked about his role in Asteroid City, though, Jeff Goldblum gave a cryptic answer during an interview with Comic Book Resources.
“Ooh, good question. Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Well, I like being able to work in the series of movies that are a little bit related to each other, even though they’re very different, of the great Wes Anderson. He’s a genius. I adore him, and in fact, I don’t want to give anything away, but I have a little bit of a sprig of a something, maybe kind of tasty, in this next thing that he does. We were in Spain and with an amazing cast, as you can imagine, and had a good time of it.”
On May 23, 2023, Asteroid City premiered at the 76th Cannes Film Festival, where it vied for the Palme d’Or; on June 13, 2023, it had its New York premiere at Alice Tully Hall. Focus Features plans a limited release of the picture in theaters across the United States on June 16, 2023, followed by a wide release on June 23, 2023.