Over a decade after Fantastic Mr. Fox, Wes Anderson is returning to the world of Roald Dahl. While the release of The French Dispatch was delayed to this past fall due to the pandemic, the director already wrapped his next film, Asteroid City, in Spain. Now’s he’s set up another film set to begin production shortly.

In November, cinematographer Robert Yeoman (via Will Mavity) revealed they were gearing up for a shoot in England for this next project and now more details have been unveiled. Baz Bamigboye reports Anderson will direct an adaptation of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, first published by Dahl in 1977 as part of a selection of short stories. The film is set to star Benedict Cumberbatch (who has exclaimed The Royal Tenenbaums is one of his all-time favorites) and will be backed by Netflix.

“If you could see with your eyes closed…Would you use your power for good or for personal gain? The life story of The Man Who Could See Without His Eyes, inspires Henry Sugar with a wonderful idea,” the book synopsis reads. “Such an amazing ability could allow Henry to cheat at cards! Henry undertakes years of training to achieve this remarkable feat and promptly uses his new power to win, and win big, but he soon discovers that more than his eyes have been changed by his studies…”

Following Netflix’s acquisition of the Roald Dahl Story Company, the streamer has set a major talent to helm its first big Dahl adaptation since the move. Sources confirmed to Deadline that Wes Anderson is on board to write and direct a feature adaptation of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. Insiders add that Anderson has set quite the ensemble that includes Benedict Cumberbatch (who will play Sugar), Ralph Fiennes, Dev Patel and Ben Kingsley.

You’re a real theatrical purist, but you have a new project coming up with Netflix, an adaptation of “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar.” Are you concerned that it might not get the kind of big-screen life you prefer?

In my case it’s a little bit of a weird thing. I knew Roald Dahl since before we made “Fantastic Mr. Fox.” I met Lindsay Dahl, his widow, when we were shooting “The Royal Tenenbaums” like 20 years ago. For years I wanted to do “Henry Sugar.” They set this story aside for me because I was friends with them. 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. But by the time I was ready to do it, the Dahl family no longer had the rights at all. They had sold the whole deal to Netflix.

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. You know they used to do these BBC things called “Play for Today” directed by people like Steven Frears and John Schlesinger and Alan Clarke. They were one hour programs or even less. I kind of envisioned something like that.

So this is more akin to the short film “Hotel Chevalier” you made for Apple in 2007.

Yes. It’s not quite the choice between a full-fledged cinema release and a streaming release because you would never distribute a short film like that and distribute it in cinemas. They’d have to sell cheaper tickets or do a double feature. I will say is that while I had only a good experience with Netflix, but I’m very happy to be putting “Asteroid City” in cinemas. Focus and Universal are doing it the real cinema way. That’s the way I really want my movies to be shown.

Wes Anderson Shorts Collection

Over the course of one week in late September 2023, four Roald Dahl shorts will be released on Netflix, all directed by visionary Wes Anderson, who has dealt with Roald Dahl’s material before in the form of Fantastic Mr. Fox.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
Coming to Netflix: September 27th



First premiering at the Venice Film Festival, this is the big 39-minute short that features the talents of Benedict Cumberbatch, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel, and Richard Ayoade.

Here’s the synopsis:
“A rich man who learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes and then sets out to master the skill in order to cheat at gambling.”

The Swan
Coming to Netflix: September 28th



The second of the shorts is a live-action one that also featured in the Henry Sugar collection of stories. It’s about a small/brilliant boy ruthlessly pursued by two large/idiotic bullies.

Rupert Friend, Asa Jennings, and Ralph Fiennes star in this particular short, which has a runtime of 17 minutes.

The Ratcatcher
Coming to Netflix: September 29th



This stop-motion animated short has a runtime of just under 20 minutes and sees Ayoade, Fiennes, and Friend lend their voices.

The story wasn’t in the main Henry Sugar collection but rather featured in the Someone Like You and Sweet Mystery short story collections. The short is about a “professional rodent exterminator.”

Poison
Coming to Netflix: September 30th



This short story featured in More Tales of the Unexpected and Someone Like You, telling the story of a man who discovers a poisonous snake asleep in his bed.

Patel, Cumberbatch, Fiennes, and Kingsley all feature in this final live-action short.