Warner Bros. is bringing Willy Wonka back to the big screen. Deadline reports that Timothée Chalamet will bring the beloved candyman to life in Wonka. And yes, there will be singing and dancing.
Willy Wonka and his magical candy factory come from the imagination of author Roald Dahl and his 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Chalamet has always been the front-runner for the role, but his schedule prevented him from signing on due to the lengthy preparation process needed to prepare for the movie’s musical numbers.
Thankfully, Chalamet’s schedule has opened up and fans are about to go on a wild journey of imagination in Wonka.
Timothee Chalamet stands on the shoulders of giants with Wonka
Chalamet’s Wonka follows in the footsteps of two iconic Willy Wonka movies, but unlike the others, this is an origin story that won’t feature beloved hero Charlie Bucket. Wonka’s past has been touched on in previous movies, but this will be the first time his background is fully explored.
Gene Wilder is widely known for bringing Willy Wonka to life in 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, followed by Johnny Depp’s psychedelic journey with director Tim Burton in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Depp’s flashy remake has a lot of fun moments in it, but Wilder brought something special to the role with his kind eyes and dark tongue-in-cheek sense of humor.
Dahl’s classic story has a dark undertone that has split audiences for decades. (Raise your hand if you still keep your eyes closed during the boat scene in Gene Wilder’s version.) There are themes of greed and gluttony throughout the movie as kids are picked off one by one for not obeying the rules that Wonka sets out during the tour of his secretive candy factory.
Chalamet will also star in WarnerMedia’s upcoming summer tentpole Dune later this year. Both Dune and Wonka open up the possibility of new franchises for the Oscar-nominated actor.
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