Wes Anderson Royal Tenenbaums" was nominated for an Academy Award and ranked by an "Empire" poll as the 159th greatest film ever made. Anderson's next feature was "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" (2004) about a Jacques Cousteau-esque documentary filmmaker played by Bill Murray. It serves as a classic example of Anderson's style, but its critical reception was less favorable than his previous films, and its box office did not match the heights of "The Royal Tenenbaums". In September 2006, Steely Dan's Walter Becker and Donald Fagen released a tongue-in-cheek "letter of intervention" for Anderson's artistic "malaise" following the disappointing commercial and
Garfield: The Movie were considered too expensive. Jennifer Garner was considered for the role of Liz, and Brad Dourif and Michael Ironside were considered to play Happy Chapman. Ironside was cast, but he dropped out after one day because of scheduling conflicts with Reno 911. Jack Nicholson was offered the role of Garfield. According to Jim Davis, Murray recorded his dialogue in his apartment in New York City and on the set of "The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou" in Greece. The film was released in theaters on June 11, 2004 by 20th Century Fox (which was 8 days before "Garfield's" 26th anniversary).