Which Wes Anderson film was his feature-length directorial debut?

Wes Anderson’s feature-length directorial debut was Bottle Rocket.

The film grew from a 1994 short film that Anderson made with Owen Wilson and Luke Wilson. Columbia Pictures later expanded the story into a feature, which premiered at the 1996 Sundance Film Festival and was released theatrically that year.

Bottle Rocket follows three friends—Anthony, Dignan, and Bob—as they attempt a series of increasingly uncertain criminal schemes. Owen Wilson co-wrote the screenplay with Anderson and plays Dignan, while Luke Wilson plays Anthony. James Caan appears as the experienced criminal Mr. Henry.

The film is sometimes confused with Anderson’s 1994 short of the same name, but the short is not his feature debut. Bottle Rocket also began the director’s long creative collaboration with the Wilson brothers.