It may have only been less than two months sinceWes Anderson’s last filmAsteroid Cityhit US theaters in June, but the acclaimed director isn’t slowing down any time soon. 2023 is shaping up to be a non-stop year for Anderson, as his next project, entitledThe Wonderful Story of Henry Sugarhas received a Netflix release date of October 13, following the film’s premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
The anthology film is based on a collection of short stories byRoald Dahl, taken from the 1977 collectionThe Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, and will be made of four parts, with a running time clocking in atonly 37 minutes. This marks the second adaption of Dahl’s work by Anderson, following his 2009 Oscar nominated featureFantastic Mr. Fox. The project starsBenedict Cumberbatch(Doctor Strange) as the titular character, withRalph Fiennes(Harry Potter) appearing as Dahl himself. The cast also includesDev Patel(Slumdog Millionaire),Ben Kingsley(Iron Man 3),Rupert Friend(Hitman: Agent 47),Asa Jennings(Sing 2), andRichard Ayoade(The IT Crowd).
Anderson has long been interested inadapting the collection of short stories, previously tellingIndieWirethat “for years, I wanted to doHenry Sugar.” The director had met Lindsay Dahl, the famed writer’s widow, while he was shootingThe Royal Tenebaumsdecades ago, becoming friendly with the family. “They set this story aside for me because I was friends with them,” he said. “Lindsay kind of handed the torch to Luke, Dahl’s grandson. So I had this waiting for me. But I really couldn’t figure out the approach. I knew what I liked in the story was the writing of it, Dahl’s words. I couldn’t find the answer, and then suddenly I did. It’s not a feature film. It’s like 37 minutes or something.”
Henry Sugar Heads Straight to Streaming
Anderson noted that “by the time I was ready to do it, the Dahl family no longer had the rights at all. They hadsold the whole deal to Netflix,” meaning that the film wouldn’t be getting a theatrical release. Though, because of the film’s length, the acquisition was serendipitous; “Suddenly, in essence, there was nowhere else you could do it since they own it. But beyond it, because it’s a 37-minute movie, it was the perfect place to do it because it’s not really a movie,” he explained.The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugarwill at least get a moment to shine on the big screen, however, as it is set to make its debut out of competition at this year’sVenice Film Festival.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugarwill be available to stream on October 13, exclusively on Netflix. Check out Collider’s interview withHenry Sugarstar, Cumberbatch, below:
