It’s been a while since we’ve reported any news on Wes Anderson’s latest film Moonrise Kingdom, but now there are finally some relevant updates to share. Filming has started recently in Rhode Island with an impressive cast that includes some new additions to Anderson’s usual crew such as Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Tilda Swinton, and Frances McDormand. Of course, it wouldn’t be a Wes Anderson film if a few familiar faces didn’t show up, so we’ve got Bill Murray and Jason Schwartzman along for the ride as well. Focus Features also announced this week that they have just picked up the worldwide distribution rights to the film. Some of those rights are expected to be sold off at Cannes later this month, but the film will be distributed under the Focus banner in the U.S. Read on after the break for a detailed plot synopsis and more.

Set on an island off the coast of New England in the 1960s, Moonrise Kingdom follows a young boy and girl falling in love. When they are moved to run away together, various factions of the town mobilize to search for them and the town is turned upside down – which might not be such a bad thing. Bruce Willis plays the town sheriff; two-time Academy Award nominee Edward Norton is cast as a camp leader; Academy Award nominee Bill Murray and Academy Award winner Frances McDormand portray the young girl’s parents; the cast also includes Academy Award winner Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman. The young boy and girl are played by Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward.

There isn’t much information available on either of the young actors playing the couple, so hopefully that means we’ll be introduced to some great new talent with this film. It’s also worth noting that the script for Moonrise Kingdom was co-written by Roman Coppola, who also worked with Anderson on The Darjeeling Limited. I’ll be looking forward to this one for sure, just as I have with every other Wes Anderson movie. It will be especially interesting to see how he handles some of his cast, specifically Bruce Willis, who is a little harder to picture fitting within the filmmaker’s typical aesthetic. The idea of Anderson doing a full-on period piece this time is also pretty intriguing. What are your thoughts on Moonrise Kingdom?