It may have only been less than two months since Wes Anderson‘s last film Asteroid City hit US theaters in June, but the acclaimed director isn’t slowing down any time soon. 2023 is shaping up to be a non-stop year for Anderson, as his next project, entitled The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar has received a Netflix release date of October 13, following the film’s premiere at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

The anthology film is based on a collection of short stories by Roald Dahl, taken from the 1977 collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, and will be made of four parts, with a running time clocking in at only 37 minutes. This marks the second adaption of Dahl‘s work by Anderson, following his 2009 Oscar nominated feature Fantastic Mr. Fox. The project stars Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) as the titular character, with Ralph Fiennes (Harry Potter) appearing as Dahl himself. The cast also includes Dev Patel (Slumdog Millionaire), Ben Kingsley (Iron Man 3), Rupert Friend (Hitman: Agent 47), Asa Jennings (Sing 2), and Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd).

Anderson has long been interested in adapting the collection of short stories, previously telling IndieWire that “for years, I wanted to do Henry Sugar.” The director had met Lindsay Dahl, the famed writer’s widow, while he was shooting The Royal Tenebaums decades ago, becoming friendly with the family. “They set this story aside for me because I was friends with them,” he said. “Lindsay kind of handed the torch to Luke, Dahl’s grandson. So I had this waiting for me. But I really couldn’t figure out the approach. 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.”

Henry Sugar Heads Straight to Streaming

Anderson noted that “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,” meaning that the film wouldn’t be getting a theatrical release. Though, because of the film’s length, the acquisition was serendipitous; “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,” he explained. The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar will at least get a moment to shine on the big screen, however, as it is set to make its debut out of competition at this year’s Venice Film Festival.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar will be available to stream on October 13, exclusively on Netflix.

via Collider