Harry Potter producer David Heyman confirms Willy Wonka prequel concept

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

For the last two years or so a new movie set around the world of chocolatier Willy Wonka has been talked about, and earlier this year that movie took a step forward by securing PADDINGTON and PADDINGTON 2 director Paul King along with writer Simon Rich (MAN SEEKING WOMAN). Not much else has come to light in terms of development, but in a recent interview producer David Heyman (HARRY POTTER, PADDINGTON) confirmed the movie will take the form of prequel tale and will dig deep into the likely caramel-filled psyche of Wonka.

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Heyman was speaking with Collider to promote the latest Wizarding World movie – FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD – when he was asked to give an update about the project. Though nothing new has happened in way of casting or a start date, he did establish where they're at in terms of story, focusing on Wonka’s pre-Golden Ticket phase.

“We are still trying to figure out how to tell that story, what the story is. It’s a prequel, it’s not a sequel. What makes Willy—when we find him at the chocolate factory doing the golden ticket, where is he before that? What leads him to that place where he’s locked himself away?… It’s how does he get there? So we’re playing around with that.”

Last we heard about the movie was that actors like Donald Glover, Ezra Miller and Ryan Gosling were at the top of the list to play the famous candyman, but again, nothing has come of that. Part of the issue with that is King has already secured another project in the new PINOCCHIO movie over at Disney, which means the new WONKA movie could be a few years off, and Heyman continued, saying he “hopes” it gets made.

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The last movie in the Wonkaverse – CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY from Tim Burton – dug a little bit into Willy’s origin, focusing some scenes on his relationship with his candy-hating father, played by Christopher Lee. That’s about as much as we’re likely to get on his origins for the time being, and it will probably be another year or two before they can get rolling on this new tale about everyone’s favorite top hat-wearing candy maker.

Meanwhile, Heyman's latest outing FANTASTIC BEASTS: THE CRIMES OF GRINDELWALD is in theaters November 16.