Wes Anderson’s latest Roald Dahl adaptation, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is premiering later this month. Anderson is no stranger to the great Roald Dahl. In 2009, he adapted Fantastic Mr. Fox, which was nominated for two Academy Awards. Anderson was recently seen at the Venice Film Festival premiering The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. He also confirmed that he plans to make an anthology that will include Dahl’s stories, “The Swan,” “Poison,” and “The Ratcatcher.” The film is heading to Netflix this month with Benedict Cumberbatch playing the lead character. Today, Netflix shared the trailer for the upcoming short.
About and Release Date of The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is based on the real-life story of mystic Kuda Bux. It follows a gambler (Cumberbatch) who acquires the skill of the art of meditation in the aspiration to gain benefit in his gambling ventures. Besides Cumberbatch, the short film stars Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel, Ralph Fiennes, Richard Ayoade, and Rupert Friend.
In an interview with IndieWire, Anderson shared, “I knew Roald Dahl since before we made Fantastic Mr. Fox.” He continued, “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.”
In her review of the short for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Leslie Felperin wrote, “The movie’s brevity (40 minutes) might make for a more digestible snack, so even Anderson-phobes will perhaps find in The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar a perfectly well-balanced reduction. It’s got most of Anderson’s signature flavor notes but in healthy, clarified stock.”
The film gets a limited theatrical release on September 20. Netflix shared, “Wes Anderson takes you into the world of The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar — premiering September 27.” Anderson’s other three shorts are The Swan (hitting Netflix on Sept. 28), The Ratcatcher (Sept. 29) and Poison (Sept. 30).
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