Here’s when Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl film is coming to Netflix
Wes Anderson‘s latest Roald Dahl adaptation has set a Netflix release date of September 27.
Anderson writes and directs the short film, which is a retelling of Dahl’s 1977 story The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. The director previously helmed Fantastic Mr. Fox, which earned Oscar nominations for Animated Feature and Original Score in 2010.
Per the official synopsis, the 39-minute film tells the story of a rich man who, after learning about a guru who can see without using his eyes, attempts to use the skill to cheat at gambling.
Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, and Richard Ayoade all star in the short film, which will premiere at the Venice Film Festival before arriving on Netflix.
“For years I wanted to do Henry Sugar,” Anderson told IndieWire earlier this year. “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.”
He continued: “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.”
On the decision to debut the film as a Netflix title, he added: “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.”
In a four-star review of his most recent release, Asteroid City, NME wrote: “The Anderson faithful will certainly be rewarded by a lush-looking film and a cast so big, there hasn’t even been time to mention Margot Robbie, Liev Schreiber, Hope Davis, Matt Dillon, Willem Dafoe, and Jeff Goldblum.
“Suffice to say, Anderson has swelled the ranks of his rep company even more. Best of all, Jason Schwartzman – now on his seventh Anderson movie – gets a juicy role for his favourite director. Seeing the two of them together again feels like perfect harmony.”
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Chris Edwards
NME
