Wes Anderson is uncharacteristically busy these days. Fresh off this year’s The French Dispatch, he’s already at work on Asteroid City with Tom Hanks, Scarlett Johansson, Tilda Swinton and Margot Robbie. Now, we’ve got word of another movie in the works — and this one is headed directly to Netflix. It’s an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, and he’s lined up Benedict Cumberbatch to star.
This will be Anderson’s second Dahl adaptation following 2009’s excellent The Fantastic Mr. Fox. Netflix acquired the rights to all of Dahl’s works in 2021 and are interested in a Dahl empire. They recruited Taika Waititi to work on a series about the origins of Willy Wonka’s Oompa Loompas and there’s another Matilda movie in the works too.
But Anderson’s been one of the few active filmmakers to turn in a really strong adaptation of Dahl, so lining him up for Henry Sugar is a big win for Netflix. The original short story follows the journey of a gambler who develops the supernatural ability to see through other players’ cards, and uses his winnings to open orphanages. That is a wonderful story.
