Wes Anderson and James L. Brooks saved in very undramatic elevator rescue

After a 30th anniversary screening of Bottle Rocket, two filmmakers overstuffed an elevator.

By Drew Gillis  |  July 8, 2026 | 9:17am
Richard Harbaugh / ©A.M.P.A.S./Nick Agro / The Academy
Film News Wes Anderson
Wes Anderson and James L. Brooks saved in very undramatic elevator rescue

Acclaimed filmmakers; they’re just like us. At least, they’re just like us in the sense that if we were trapped in an elevator, we’d have little recourse but to wait for someone to come save us. This is apparently what happened to James L. Brooks and Wes Anderson, who were rescued from a malfunctioning elevator at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures by the Los Angeles Fire Department on Monday. The two were at the museum for a 30th anniversary screening of Anderson’s Bottle Rocket; Luke Wilson, who was also billed on the Academy Museum’s website, must have taken the stairs. 

A video of the (incredibly undramatic) rescue was shared on X, the Everything App, by the account Save Your Cinema, which seems to be meant much more literally than we would have assumed. The Hollywood Reporter has also confirmed the veracity of the clip, which shows a pleased Brooks exiting the elevator, remarking that they’ve been released “even where our cars are.” Anderson goes up to the LAFD staff and asks if they had any theories of what was wrong with the elevator and is met with a shrugging response: “Probably had too much weight in there.” The museum must have forgotten to account for the artistic, psychological, and intellectual weight that the creators of Terms Of Endearment and The Royal Tannenbaums carry with them everywhere—classic mistake! 

 
Join the discussion...
Keep scrolling for more great stories.