Nominated for seven Academy Awards, filmmaker Wes Anderson won his first Oscar this past weekend, the Best Live Action Short Film for his 33-minute short, “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar,” starring Benedict Cumberbatch. But during the Oscar ceremony, Anderson was nowhere to be found and couldn’t accept in person.
Was the director thumbing his nose at the Academy? Not at all. As many suspected, Anderson wasn’t available as he’s about to shoot his new movie, rumored to be called, “The Phoenician Scheme.”
READ MORE: Wes Anderson’s Roald Dahl Shorts Review: The Preciousness Of Wes Anderson-Isms Are Pushed To Their Artisanally-Crafted Limits [Netflix]
“If I could have been there, I (along with [producer] Steven Rales) would have said ‘Thank you’ to: the family of Roald Dahl; the team at Netflix; our cast and crew,” he wrote in a statement, explaining his absence “And also: if I had not met Owen Wilson in a corridor at the University of Texas between classes when I was 18 years old, I would certainly not be receiving this award tonight — but unfortunately, Steven and I are in Germany and we start shooting our new movie early tomorrow morning, so I did not actually receive the award or get a chance to say any of that.”
While not an official title, “The Phoenician Scheme” is said to be a spy/espionage and family drama that stars Benicio del Toro, Michael Cera, and Bill Murray. While more regular membersof Anderson’s troupe are expected to appear, none have been announced, and it’s rumored to be a smaller, less sprawling film in terms of cast.
Penned by Anderson and Roman Coppola, who co-wrote most of Anderson’s recent output, including the most recent films like “Asteroid City” and “The French Dispatch,” the film is said to be an old story idea from around the time of “Moonrise Kingdom” in 2012, that Anderson dusted off.
Speaking of Anderson’s Oscar win, following the victory, Netflix announced “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar And Three More;” essentially just an anthology one-film version of the four Roald Dahl shorts Netflix released last fall (“The Swan,” “The Ratcatcher,” and “Poison”; read our reviews here). While all the shorts are already available on Netflix, the four-short film anthology will be available in one-easier-to-digest version on the streaming platform on March 15. For good measure, Netflix released a new trailer, which you can watch below.