Wes Anderson isn’t done with Roald Dahl yet, not by a long shot.
In an interview with Netflix’s fandom blog Tudum, Anderson revealed that he has three more Roald Dahl adaptations starring Ralph Fiennes coming down the pike after The Wonderful Story Of Henry Sugar drops next week. More surprisingly, Netflix is dropping them all over four days. Channeling Comedy Bang! Bang!, we have to wonder: Why isn’t this being advertised as a four-night event?
Dropping on September 28 is The Swan, starring Rupert Friend, Asa Jennings, and Fiennes as Roald Dahl himself, a role he reprises for Sugar and the final short, Poison. The following day, September 29, it’s Fiennes time again when The Rat Catcher lands on the streamer. That one stars Fiennes, Richard Ayoade, and Rupert Friend, who is becoming an Anderson regular this week. Finally, on September 30, Poison, which sees Fiennes reunite with his Henry Sugar cast, including Dev Patel, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Ben Kingsley, will conclude Anderson’s run of Dahl shorts on Netflix.
Like Henry Sugar, all three upcoming projects are short subjects but much shorter than Sugar, which runs 39 minutes. The other movies all clock in at 17 minutes. Why wasn’t this put together as some omnibus or anthology à la The French Dispatch is unclear. If we had to guess, it probably would’ve cost Netflix more money to do that.
Per an interview with Deadline, Anderson is also thinking about his next project—though obviously can’t start anything with the strikes still in effect. However, he mentioned that a specific actor he’s never worked with before is joining his next feature: Michael Cera. “We have Michael Cera. He’s one of the other characters in this new story,” Anderson said. “And he’s somebody I probably met, I think, close to 20 years ago. At least 18 years ago, something like that. I met him with Harvey Keitel, so it must have been 2008 or something. But, anyway, Michael Cera.”
Get ready for a won-Dahl-ful fall, or a won-Dahl-fall. We’re still working on what to call this whole thing.
