Wes Anderson reacts to ‘Henry Sugar’ Oscar win, absence from ceremony

Wes Anderson wins first Oscar for Roald Dahl adaptation, absent from ceremony, expresses gratitude through statement.

In a twist of fate at the Oscars 2024, acclaimed filmmaker Wes Anderson won his long-awaited first Academy Award for his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar. However, fans were left in dismay as Anderson was notably absent from the ceremony to receive the accolade in person.

Expressing his gratitude, Anderson conveyed his thanks through a statement shared by Netflix, the platform behind the award-winning short film.

“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; Benedict [Cumberbatch] and Ralph [Fiennes] and Ben Kingsley and Dev [Patel] … and more [of the cast and crew],”

Anderson’s adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar received the Academy Award for Best Live-Action Short and follows Benedict Cumberbatch’s eponymous character stars and his curious life.

His statement continued, “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 [in person] or get a chance to say any of that.”

The auteur makes reference to his first feature, Bottle Rocket, which he wrote with frequent-collaborater, actor Owen Wilson in 1996, kickstarting his filmmaking career.

The upcoming film in production that Anderson referred to, reportedly titled The Phoenician Scheme, boasts an unsurprising ensemble cast including Benicio Del Toro, Michael Cera, and Bill Murray, with Roman Coppola as a co-writer.