The film world's favorite persnickety stylist, Wes Anderson, is back! Already! Anderson's most recent feature film, "Asteroid City," premiered in wide release just three months ago. It garnered rave reviews (Lex Briscuso wrote in these very pages that the film is "a top-tier Wes Anderson original that brings back the carefree fun and charm of some of his best works") and continues to be a box office force to be reckoned with, which is more or less par for the course for Anderson.

But eager Andersonians won't have to wait two to three years for the next one. A dazzling new adventure from the mind behind "Moonrise Kingdom" and "The Royal Tenenbaums" lies right around the corner. On September 27, Anderson will premiere a new short film on Netflix titled "The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar." In fact, September 27 doesn't just mark the premiere of a new Anderson film, it's the day a series of shorts conceived and created by Anderson hit the streaming platform, one per day for four days. Following "The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar" are "The Swan," "The Ratcatcher," and "Poison," all based on short stories by the beloved children's author Roald Dahl. 

The four shorts will star the same core cast in a rotating set of roles. They include actors who've worked with Anderson in the past, like Ralph Fiennes ("The Grand Budapest Hotel") and Rupert Friend ("The French Dispatch," "Asteroid City") as well as new actors like Benedict Cumberbatch, Dev Patel, Richard Ayoade, and, amazingly Ben Kingsley (how has he not been in an Anderson film, yet?).

The first trailer for "The Wonderful Life of Henry Sugar" has finally dropped, and it's everything an Anderson fan could hope for.

Back in 2021, Netflix acquired the Roald Dahl story company, paving the way for this series of shorts. But they're only the beginning. Taika Waititi and Phil Johnston, the filmmaker behind "Ralph Breaks the Internet," signed on to develop a series based on "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" in 2020, while Netflix partnered up with Sony the same year to produce an adaptation of "Matilda The Musical." Those deals were made before the acquisition even came through. Now that the Dahl is in the building, Netflix has promised to — what else — create a cinematic universe out of Roald Dahl stories, which also include "The BFG," "The Witches," and "James and the Giant Peach."

This also isn't Anderson's first dip into the Dahl pond. He previously co-wrote, produced, and directed a stop-motion adaptation of "Fantastic Mr. Fox" in 2009. That book was originally published by Dahl in 1970, and the story collection that includes "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" followed after in 1977. In brief, the premise of "Henry Sugar" has been described by Netflix as follows:

"A beloved Roald Dahl story about a rich man who learns about a guru who can see without using his eyes and then sets out to master the skill in order to cheat at gambling."

As you can see from the trailer, this is going to be 39 minutes of pure, unadulterated, Andersonian goodness. "The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar" comes to Netflix on September 27, with "The Swan," "The Ratcatcher," and "Poison" to follow.