Wes Anderson, and his iconic style, has wowed audiences from the mid-90s up until his latest film, The French Dispatch, which premiered last year. Now Baz Bamigboye is reporting the artistic director is taking on another Roald Dahl classic with The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar for Netflix starring Benedict Cumberbatch! His previous Dahl film was the 2009 hit, The Fantastic Mr. Fox, starring George Clooney, Willem Dafoe, Jason Schwartzman, and more of Anderson's collection of Hollywood elite.
Now, he'll be adding Cumberbatch to his line-up, who will be playing Sugar. The collection of short stories, which is a mix of fact and fiction, includes tales about how Dahl became a writer and is a perfect example of what has drawn audiences to Dahl's stories time and time again. Pair that with Anderson's unique style and this is going to be an exciting return team-up for fans of Anderson and Dahl.
Cumberbatch is currently getting award buzz for his portrayal of Phil Burbank in Jane Campion's The Power of the Dog and is currently starring opposite Tom Holland in Sony's Spider-Man: No Way Home. The film is set to start filming in London very soon, which is also interesting given that Cumberbatch still has Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness coming out this year as well as the potential award season for his work in The Power of the Dog.
There is something about the worlds that Anderson builds that keep audiences fascinated by his work. What he did with The Fantastic Mr. Fox is pair his style with an animation format to fit in, bringing stop-motion to his filmography in a way that just stays with you after you've seen it. Is there anything cooler than Dafoe as Rat? I don't think so. So returning to the world of Dahl is going to be a fascinating step for Anderson. There isn't any information on whether or not it will be animated again but it will be interesting to see nonetheless. It's a fun world that Anderson plays in and he's mastered his style and tone which fits incredibly well with the worlds that Dahl builds do getting to see that pairing again should excite fans.
Anderson is one of our best filmmakers and Cumberbatch has proven his talent time and time again. So the two working together is going to be fun to see and who knows, this could just be the first of many team-ups for the two (as Anderson is known to do with the people he's worked with).