“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” part of a suite of short films based on Roald Dahl stories that Wes Anderson released onto Netflix last year, won the director his first-ever Oscar for Best Live Action Short Film on Sunday night.
A day later, it’s now officially getting repackaged (with three additional shorts) into “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More,” an anthology film that will debut on Netflix on March 15.
While he skipped the 96th Academy Awards, Anderson also shared, via the streaming giant, his would-be acceptance speech.
“It was a special pleasure to (extremely faithfully) adapt four of Roald Dahl’s marvelous short stories. I am delighted to present them now as an Anthology — also featuring an original song by Jarvis Cocker: ‘Roald Dahl’s Rules for Being a Fiction Writer,’” Anderson said in an official statement.
“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” marks Anderson’s first Oscar win, though he has been nominated eight times in total: Best Animated Picture for “Fantastic Mr. Fox” in 2009 and “Isle of Dogs” in 2018; Best Original Screenplay for “The Royal Tenenbaums” in 2001, “Moonrise Kingdom” in 2012 and “The Grand Budapest Hotel” in 2014; as well as Best Picture and Best Director for “The Grand Budapest Hotel.”
“Henry Sugar” — now packaged with “The Swan,” “The Rat Catcher” and “Poison” (which some might remember as an episode of “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” that Hitchcock himself directed) — stars Ralph Fiennes, Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley, Rupert Friend and Richard Ayoade, who also appear in the other short films.
“The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Three More” releases globally on Netflix March 15.
