Wes Anderson Is Bringing Marvel Talent to His Next Roald Dahl Adaptation

Wes Anderson Is Bringing Marvel Talent to His Next Roald Dahl Adaptation

Over three years have passed since Netflix announced it was teaming up with the Roald Dahl estate to bring the popular author’s works to its service. Now, finally, the first film is about to get off the ground, and the cast already has us ready to give away an entire chocolate factory to see it.

The film is an adaptation of Dahl’s short fiction collection The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More, and it’s being adapted and directed by none other than Wes Anderson. Anderson, who previously adapted Dahl’s Fantastic Mr. Fox with great success, has cast Benedict Cumberbatch as the lead character as well as Dev Patel, Ralph Fiennes, and Ben Kingsley, according to the Hollywood Reporter. Filming is likely to start in the UK later this month.

Cumberbatch plays the title character, Henry Sugar, a man who comes upon a book that gives him special powers, including divination. As a result, he gets into all sorts of misadventures. However, that’s just one of the book’s seven stories and it seems likely, especially given the anthology nature of Anderson’s latest work, The French Dispatch, that this could cover several if not all of them. Cumberbatch is believed to appear as multiple characters throughout while there’s no word who the other actors are playing.

But what actors, right? Fiennes has worked with Anderson before, having starred in the director’s biggest hit, The Grand Budapest Hotel, but the other three are new additions. And each just feels like they’ll fit right at home in Anderson’s quirky world given the dynamic performances we’ve seen from each of them. Heck, even just this year, Patel crushed in The Green Knight, Kingsley delighted in Shang-Chi, and Cumberbatch changed the MCU in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Oh, and Fiennes raised a glass to James Bond in No Time to Die. Not to mention the other masterpieces and Oscar winners they’ve all appeared in throughout their careers.

Now just bring Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, Frances McDormand, and the rest of the Wes Anderson players along for the ride and you’ve got the most exciting Netflix original movie this side of Knives Out 2.