THE wait for Wes Anderson’s much-anticipated all-star caper The Grand Budapest Hotel will end officially on March 7, but before then City Screen, York has arranged a couple of sneak previews for Sunday, March 2.

The Picturehouse cinema also will run a retrospective season of all the Texan writer-director’s idiosyncratic films on Monday nights, beginning on February 17.

The Grand Budapest Hotel, set in the inter-war years, centres on the hotel of that name, its savvy concierge Gustave (Ralph Fiennes) and his new lobby boy Zero Moustafa (newcomer Tony Revolori), who progresses from naive apprentice to Gustave’s trusted accomplice.

The guile of both is tested when one of Gustave’s most favoured guests (a heavily camouflaged Tilda Swinton) bequeaths him a priceless painting, arousing the suspicions of police detective Henckels (Edward Norton).

Their ensuing adventures involve numerous roguish characters, many played by Anderson regulars such as Bill Murray, Jason Schwartzman and Owen Wilson.

“Anderson’s latest movie has all the luminosity of Moonrise Kingdom and frenetic wit of The Royal Tenenbaums – and then some,” says Dave Taylor, City Screen’s marketing manager. “It’s glorious fun.”

To cap it all, City Screen is offering a free Jameson and Ginger Ale to all ticket holders for The Grand Budapest Hotel on March 2 or over the opening weekend of March 7 to 9.

Meanwhile, the Anderson season kicks off on Monday at 8.45pm with his 1996 debut feature, Bottle Rocket (15), in which Luke and Owen Wilson hatch a 75-year plan and go on a hare-brained crime spree that revolves around the mysterious Mr Henry (James Caan).

Anderson’s dark-witted high-school comedy, Rushmore (15), will be shown on February 24 at 8.45pm with its story of a precocious boy (Jason Schwartzman) whose infatuation with a teacher puts him on a collision course with everyone around him.

In 2001’s The Royal Tenenbaums (15), on March 3 at 8.45pm, ageing layabout Royal Tenenbaum (Gene Hackman) tries to worm his way back into his dysfunctional family. Among them are a paranoid entrepreneur (Ben Stiller), a washed-up playwright (Gwyneth Paltrow) and an ex-tennis star (Luke Wilson).

Oceanographer Steve Zissou (Bill Murray) is planning revenge on a murderous shark in 2004’s The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou on March 10 at 8.45pm. To assist him, he rallies his crew: his wife (Anjelica Huston), a journalist (Cate Blanchett) and a spunky young pilot (Owen Wilson), who may or may not be his son.

Three estranged brothers (Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody) set off on a train journey across India, seeking to find themselves and bond with each other, in 2007 comedy adventure The Darjeeling Limited (15) on March 17 at 6.15pm.

George Clooney, Meryl Streep, Bill Murray, Michael Gambon, Owen Wilson and Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker voice Anderson’s 2009 animated version of Roald Dahl’s tale Fantastic Mr Fox (PG) on March 24 at 6.15pm.

The season concludes with 2012’s Moonrise Kingdom (12A), set in 1965, when 12-year-old Sam (Jared Gilman) and Suzy (Kara Hayward) flee their cosy New England coastal town in an impulsive gesture of pre-teen romance. Screen time will be 6.15pm on March 31.

• Tickets for City Screen’s We Love Wes season can be booked on 0871 902 5726 or at picturehouses.co.uk/york