Wes Anderson "Darjeeling" Prequel Available For Download

If you've been waiting impatiently for the new Wes Anderson film "The Darjeeling Limited" -- which will begin its release in New York tomorrow -- I have good news! On Wednesday of this week, Anderson made available for download a free 13-minute long prequel to the film entitled "Hotel Chevalier," which was made about a year prior to "Darjeeling." More details -- including how to download the short film -- after the jump!

["Hotel Chevalier"] takes place entirely in the Paris hotel room of Mr. Schwartzman's character and includes information that later becomes relevant in "Darjeeling"... Anderson [said] it was his goal to "get every person who goes to ["The Darjeeling Limited"] to see the short first." Mr. Anderson may have a hook: The short co-stars Natalie Portman, who appears in an extended nude scene -- but whose character makes just a blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameo in "The Darjeeling Limited."  

"I shot 'Chevalier' in 2½ days and edited it in about a week on my computer," says Mr. Anderson. "I had one copy of 'Chevalier' on DVD, and I'd show it to people on my laptop that entire year," says Mr. Anderson. He says that he financed "Chevalier" entirely out of his own pocket. He considered filming two additional shorts to fill in background on the other main characters and at one point considered opening the movie with the "Chevalier" sequence.  

It's an intriguing marketing technique if nothing else -- and one I'm guessing we'll see more of in the future if it proves successful in this instance. You can download the full short film for free from iTunes using this link. Let us know what you think of it!

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Comments

[Kelly]

just watched this. very vague, but you know...prequel and all. the extended nude scene really wasn't. you don't see anything of natalie's except her butt cheeks.