Willy Wonka’s making a comeback! While we previously revealed that Timothée Chalamet was starring in a big-budget Charlie & the Chocolate Factory prequel, we just got our first look at the character in his full costume, thanks to Chalamet himself. The pics were posted via his own Instagram:
Paddington 2‘s Paul King is directing Wonka. And that fact, my friends, is why I’m kind of excited for the movie despite the notion of a Wonka prequel being somewhat dull. If King has found a way to make the material truly exciting, I’m all for it. One thing is for sure, Chalamet is one heck of a good actor. He’s proven this repeatedly, with Call Me By Your Name, the underrated The King, and his upcoming Dune all sporting excellent leading roles for the rising leading man.
My question is this – after Doolittle flopped so badly, despite Robert Downey Jr in the lead, why is a Wonka prequel suddenly considered such a great idea? I also wonder what exactly it’s a prequel to? Is it a prequel to the original film starring Gene Wilder or the Tim Burton remake with Johnny Depp? Based on Chalamet’s pic, I think it’s the Wilder version. He doesn’t have the Prince Valliant haircut Depp had.
As previously revealed, Wonka is set to tell the story of a young Willy Wonka and how he met the Oompa-Loompas on one of his earliest adventures. Paddington’s Paul King is slated to direct from a script he co-wrote with Simon Farnaby. In charge of writing original songs for the musical is Neil Hannon of the band The Divine Comedy.
Wonka was recently announced to co-star Sally Hawkins (Paddington, The Shape of Water), Rowan Atkinson (Rat Race, Mr. Bean), Olivia Colman (The Favourite, The Crown), and Jim Carter (Shakespeare in Love, Downton Abbey).
Are you excited to see Chalamet’s Wonka?