Collider is reporting today that Benedict Cumberbatch’s next role will be in Wes Anderson’s forthcoming film for Netflix. Anderson will be adapting another Roald Dahl classic, The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar, with The Fantastic Mr. Fox being his first Dahl adaptation back in 2009.
The Wonderful Story of Dr. Strange
Cumberbatch joins the likes of actors Ed Norton, Willem Dafoe, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Bruce Willis, Frances McDormand, and Ralph Fiennes, just to name a few, who have had the opportunity to work with one of the most visually sublime directors of our time.
Dr. Strange (Cumberbatch) is currently still riding the Spider-Man: No Way Home wave as he stars opposite Tom Holland in the third installment of the third iteration of Peter Parker. As for Anderson, he has most recently released The French Dispatch, which stars Benicio Del Toro, Adrien Brody, and Tilda Swinton.
The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar will be based on the book The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More which consists of 7 short stories that Dahl wrote back in 1977. This seems to work great with how Anderson tells his stories, which are usually visualized through a litany of characters going through some very serious situations. There is no doubt that he might try and merge all the stories through one singular character: Cumberbatch as Henry Sugar, perhaps.
The stories from the book are a mix of fiction and non-fiction, with two of the tales being specifically about himself. The first is about how he became a writer. The rest are made-up stories that include a story about a British farmer finding a legendary haul of ancient Roman treasure. I can’t wait to see how colorful Anderson can make this adaptation.
