In 1977, Roald Dahl published a darker, edgier collection of stories than the clever children’s tales he had built his name writing. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More was written throughout the author’s life, a mix of autobiography and fiction. Now, courtesy of the keen cinematic eye belonging to filmmaker Wes Anderson, the book is set to become a 37-minute movie, out later this year.
So what will The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar actually be about? The Fantastic Mr. Fox director is certainly no stranger to adding an adult twist to a children’s story, but this one was already deliberately aimed at older audiences. Who’s in the cast here? Can it compare to the laundry list of pitch-perfect Asteroid City cameos? And when can we watch this thing, exactly? Here’s everything we know about Wes Anderson’s new Netflix movie.
What is The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar about?
According to its IMDb description, the film is said to chronicle a variety of stories, but the main thread follows Henry Sugar, a man with the ability to “see through objects and predict the future with the help of a book he stole.”
In a recent interview with Variety, actor Rupert Friend revealed a bit about the movie’s plot. “It could change, but when we made it, there were four stories drawn from a Roald Dahl [short story collection], which are his slightly darker, twisted ones that he wrote for adults,” he said. “Wes took four of them and put together a smaller troupe of actors: myself, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, and Richard Ayoade.”
Cinematographer Robert Yeoman – a longtime collaborator of Wes Anderon’s since they were both university students – shared a few details about the production with The Film Stage: “Three of [the stories] were shot on a stage. One of them is out in the jungle. So it was quite a challenge to create all this on a stage. And each one has a very distinct look to it. We shot 16mm for the whole thing, which when I saw the finished film, the first thing I wrote Wes was I just love the 16mm. It has such a distinct look to it,” he said. “But again, he’s pushing the boundaries and it’s a very different style, in some ways, than what Wes usually does.”
Who is in the cast?
Benedict Cumberbatch has cinched the film’s titular role, and will be playing Henry Sugar in the forthcoming adaptation. So far, the only other confirmed cast members are as follows: Rupert Friend, Ralph Fiennes, Ben Kingsley, Dev Patel, and Richard Ayoade.
What’s the release date?
While there’s no indication of the movie getting a theatrical release, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar will be available to watch on Netflix from 13 October.