We already knew that this year's 51st London Film Festival was set to open with David Cronenberg's Eastern Promises. Now the closing gala has been announced as well, and it's none other than Wes Anderson's much-anticipated (at least around these parts) The Darjeeling Limited.
The film stars Adrien Brody, Owen Wilson and Jason Schwartzman as three brothers who travel to India to try to rediscover their family bond, only to find events veering off-course and themselves stranded in the middle of a desert with "eleven suitcases, a printer and a laminating machine" - none of which, interestingly, appear on a typical check list of "Things You Need To Survive In The Desert".
Festival Artistic Director Sandra Hebron said of the selection, “Wes Anderson and his knockout cast are at their sparkling best in The Darjeeling Limited, and we're very excited to be closing our Festival with this original and hugely enjoyable film from one of our favourite auteurs.”
The gala will take place on Thursday November 1, and Anderson at least will be in attendance, since he's giving a career interview as part of the festival's TCM Screen Talks series. Other guests are yet to be announced, but if past years are anything to go by we'll see more cast members and crew in attendance.
The full programme for the Festival will be announced on September 13, so we'll bring you more then.