Netflix now has the first of 4 new films in a fantasy universe that costs billions

Netflix has invested several hundred million, if not billions, in the rights to the stories of Roald Dahl (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory). So far, however, there has been little to see on the streaming service. That changes this week, with the following four films guaranteed not to have had budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars.

Starting today, a new short film by eccentric director Wes Anderson (Asteroid City) will be coming to Netflix four days in a row.

That’s what Wes Anderson’s four short films are about

Anderson has been dreaming of making a film adaptation of Roald Dahl’s short story collection for around 20 years The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar and Six More. A feature film wasn’t the right format for him. Instead, he made four short films for Netflix. The first is called I see something you don’t see.

In it, Benedict Cumberbatch (Doctor Strange) plays a ne’er-do-well gambler who wants to learn a seemingly impossible trick: without using his eyes, he wants to see through people and read their cards. The cast also includes Dev Patel, Ben Kingsley and Ralph Fiennes. Fiennes plays the author Roald Dahl. You will also see the faces again in some of the three other films or hear their voices.

The second film The Swan is about a boy who is tormented by two school bullies. A Pied Piper is the focus of the story of the same name from the collection Someone Like You and the story Gift, like the first short film, takes you to India. By the way, Poison has already been made into a film, by none other than Alfred Hitchcock, for his Alfred Hitchcock series.

The dates for the release of the Wes Anderson films on Netflix:

As usual with Wes Anderson, you can expect weird fun in the four short films, mixed with a melancholic mood, imaginative visual gags and lovingly designed sets.

Podcast for everyone with a subscription: That’s why Netflix series look so cheap

These questions have been coming up for years: Why do all Netflix series look the same and sometimes even cheap. In the (spoiler-free) episode we define the “Netflix look” that series like One Piece, Sandman and The Witcher have in common.

In the second part of the episode we explain three reasons why Netflix series and films look like this – and why you sometimes don’t even notice their big budget.