Director Wes Anderson and author Roald Dahl: A match made in fanciful and extremely symmetrical cinematic heaven. Anderson already adapted Dahl’s novel Fantastic Mr. Fox into an extremely charming stop-motion animated movie. Now Anderson is turning four Dahl stories into a quadrilogy of short films for Netflix, with the first — The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar — premiering on streaming in just a few weeks.
Benedict Cumberbatch stars as the title character, with Anderson adapting Dahl’s story and directing. The film runs just under 40 minutes. The trailer — which anyone could plainly see is clearly a Wes Anderson production even if they had removed every single mention of his name from the movie — is available below. The cast also includes Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Rupert Friend, and longtime Wes Anderson star Ralph Fiennes as Roald Dahl himself.
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The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar premiered earlier this month at the Venice Film Festival, where it got very strong reviews from critics, with particular praise for lively pacing (it’s only 40 minutes, after all) along with its dynamic visual style.
Here is the film’s official synopsis:
A beloved Roald Dahl short story about 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 Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar premieres on Netflix on September 27. Several more Dahl adaptations are expected to follow shortly thereafter. (Shortly, hah.)
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