Why Wes Anderson Teamed Up With Netflix For Another Roald Dahl Story

Wes Anderson fans — let's call them Westys — have plenty of reason to cheer in 2023. As if the arrival of "Asteroid City" (read /Film's review here) wasn't enough, the writer/director also has a brand-new Roald Dahl adaptation on the way this year: "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar."

Anderson and Dahl previously proved to be a match made in heaven with 2009's "Fantastic Mr. Fox," the former's acclaimed stop-motion animated film adaptation of the latter's children's novel. The two storytellers certainly share a penchant for dark whimsy. The worlds they imagine tend to be populated by nasty authority figures and otherwise unpleasant individuals who abuse their power and wealth to serve their own selfish purposes. The heroes in Anderson and Dahl's stories are usually as off-beat and larger-than-life as the villains, although Anderson's work has a humanist streak that the late Dahl's creations never really did (nor, fortunately, does Anderson share Dahl's general bigotry).

"Henry Sugar," one of seven short stories collected in Dahl's 1977 book "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More," almost feels tailor-made for Anderson. The tale centers on the titular Mr. Sugar (played by Benedict Cumberbatch in Anderson's movie), a chap who uses his newly-learned ability to see through thin objects like cards and predict the future to win big at casinos, only to find himself unexpectedly repulsed by the wealth he's amassed. It's a story that very much reflects Dahl's darker tendencies, yet possesses an undercurrent of warmth in the way Anderson's work typically does.

As for how Anderson managed to finish both "Asteroid City" and "Henry Sugar" so quickly? It turns out the latter is actually a short film and not a feature-length one. This was also part of the reason why Anderson was fine teaming up with Netflix for its release.

Netflix, in case you had forgotten, is actively developing its own Roald Dahl Extended Universe (... it still feels strange writing that), beginning with last year's "Matilda the Musical." Speaking to IndieWire, Wes Anderson revealed that he actually met Dahl's widow and initially expressed an interest in bringing "Henry Sugar" to the screen over 20 years ago, back when he was shooting "The Royal Tenenbaums."

Why the long delay? "[I] really couldn't figure out the approach," Anderson explained. "I knew what I liked in the story was the writing of it, Dahl's words." The filmmaker eventually settled on a solution: rather than try and turn Dahl's short story into a full-length film, just make a short film instead. "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," Anderson clarified. 

Because runtimes are less of a concern when it comes to streaming (unless your movie's over two hours, apparently), things actually worked out nicely for the filmmaker. As he put it:

"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."

Obviously, a 37-minute short film isn't going to get a wide theatrical release by itself in 2023, which is the other reason Wes Anderson was fine with making an exception when it comes to premiering his work in theaters. It's not the first time he's had to do that, either. His short film "Hotel Chevalier," a prologue to his 2007 dramedy "The Darjeeling Limited," wasn't included with the movie until a few weeks into its theatrical run, much to the bafflement of many moviegoers. Thankfully, "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" should avoid creating any such confusion, although Anderson doesn't anticipate shifting his focus to streaming in the future. In his own words:

"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. I will say is that while I had only a good experience with Netflix, but I'm very happy to be putting 'Asteroid City' in cinemas. Focus and Universal are doing it the real cinema way. That's the way I really want my movies to be shown."

All in all, you get the impression Anderson is content to remain flexible about how his work is distributed, as well he should be in these tumultuous times for the film industry. "Henry Sugar" even sees him joining the ranks of Martin Scorsese and Ridley Scott in collaborating with streamers while also keeping their eye fixed on the theatrical experience as necessary. Not at all bad company to be in.

"Asteroid City" is now playing in select theaters. "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" will bow on Netflix in 2023.