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Does 'Wonka’ Have a Release Date?
Watch The Trailer For 'Wonka'
Will 'Wonka' Be Available on Streaming?
What is 'Wonka' About?
Who’s Playing Willy Wonka?
Who Are the Supporting Cast of Characters?
Who are the Creatives Behind the Project?
Is This Film Connected to the Previous Versions of Willy Wonka?
Is 'Wonka' a Movie Musical?
The History of Willy Wonka
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a 1964 children’s novel written by Roald Dahl. The book follows Charlie Bucket as he and his grandfather visit Willy Wonka’s outstanding chocolatier. The story became an instant classic, leading to multiple films. The first is Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, starring the incredible Gene Wilder in the titular role. The next film starred the unbelievably quirky Johnny Depp in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
That leads us to 2021 and the announcement of the third live-action film based on Roald Dahl’s iconic novel. Wonka is a prequel film by Warner Bros. Pictures and will give us a look into the chocolatier’s origins before he became the Wonka we’ve come to know over the years. Here, we’re going to break down everything we know about the film. Who’s the film’s leading man? Who’s directing and producing? Does the film have a release date? All will be answered down below!
Editor's Note: This article was updated on December 9.
Wonka
Fantasy
Adventure
children
Family
Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, 'Wonka' tells the wondrous story of how the world's greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.
- Release Date
- December 15, 2023
- Director
- Paul King
- Cast
- Timothee Chalamet , Hugh Grant , Olivia Colman , Keegan Michael Key , Rowan Atkinson , Sally Hawkins
- Main Genre
- Fantasy
- Studio
- Warner Bros.
- Writers
- Simon Farnaby , Paul King , Roald Dahl
Does 'Wonka’ Have a Release Date?
The upcoming Wonka film was scheduled to hit theaters on March 17th, 2023. However, with the COVID-19 pandemic causing problems for Hollywood both on the production side and with audiences slowly returning to cinemas, the was delayed. Wonka will make its way to theaters on December 15, 2023.
Watch The Trailer For 'Wonka'
The first trailer for Wonka dropped on July 11, 2023. The trailer goes pretty in-depth and shows us a young Willy Wonka on his journey to start his own chocolaterie. The film is very much in a similar tone as the Paddington films and has the whimsical nature you'd expect in a story about the bright-eyed candy maker. The second trailer for Wonka was released on October 12 and is nearly three minutes long.
Due to the SAG-AFTRA strike, the stars of Wonka couldn't promote the movie for a long time. But that changed once the strike ended and Timothée Chalamet got to promote Wonka in a Saturday Night Live promo:
On November 14, we also got a new Wonka teaser, showing Chalamet performing the iconic song "Pure Imagination".
A day later, we also got a new clip from Wonka. In the clip, we see Chalamet's Wonka meet an Oompa Loompa, who is played by a... familiar face.
On December 5, a brief behind-the-scenes featurette titled "Recipe for an Icon" was released for Wonka, which you can see here:
Will 'Wonka' Be Available on Streaming?
In 2020, Warner Bros. made their entire film slate available in theaters and on Max on the same day. Later in 2021, the studio shifted to a 45-day release window, where the films were theater-exclusive for a month and a half. As of 2022, the company has slowly returned to the usual status quo. Most movies take at least three months before they land on Max. It’s safe to assume that Wonka won't be available to stream until Spring 2024.
What is 'Wonka' About?
The story of Wonka is not fully known. The film will be a prequel giving us more information on Willy’s backstory and how he become a world-famous chocolatier. Still, until we get a teaser trailer, we don’t have much to go on.
Who’s Playing Willy Wonka?
Willy Wonka will be played by none other than Timothée Chalamet. The young actor is coming off an outstanding 2021 where he starred as Paul Atreides in (Dune: Part One), Zeffirelli (The French Dispatch), and Quentin (Don’t Look Up). Initially, Warner Bros. was also interested in Tom Holland for the role of Wonka but ultimately landed on Chalamet. Follow castmember Keegan-Michael Key has praised Chalamet's performance, saying:
There’s this wonderful effortlessness about how he plays Wonka, not to mention the fact that there’s this hopeful quality that he gives the character, a kind of indomitable quality that he’ll never quit, he’s always up for the next thing. He’s like, ‘OK, that didn’t work out? We’ll do this and we’ll try something else'. And Timothée Chalamet, what can I say? Sacrébleu! This kid, you know, he drips charisma and a wonderful confidence. He’s just a really delicious artist.
When talking about his approach to the role, Chalamet said:
I hate to say it, but the dream as an artist is to throw whatever the f**k you want at the wall, you know? And I guess what I’m realizing is that one’s personal life, one’s adult life, can be quite boring and the artist’s life can still be extraordinary.
Who Are the Supporting Cast of Characters?
Starring alongside Timothée Chalamet will be Hugh Grant,Keegan-Michael Key, Sally Hawkins, Olivia Colman, Tom Davis, Simon Farnaby, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Mathew Baynton, Jim Carter, Rowan Atkinson, and Rich Fulcher. We don’t have any information on these supporting characters, but this cast is full of talented actors, which is enough to get us excited.
Who are the Creatives Behind the Project?
Paul King (Paddington) will direct the film with a script he co-wrote with Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2). Producers David Heyman (The Harry Potter franchise) and Luke Kelly (The Witches) will be backing Wonka, alongside executive producers Michael Siegel (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory), and Alexandra Derbyshire (Paddington).
Is This Film Connected to the Previous Versions of Willy Wonka?
While Wonka has no connection to the Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp interpretations of the character, the film is heavily influenced by the world of the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Chalamet’s interpretation of the character may take inspiration from those films, but this film will not take place in those worlds. In an interview with EW, director Paul King had this to say on the matter:
I didn't want to reinvent those things [the world of Willy Wonka] 'cause it felt like that '71 movie had come up with these incredibly enduring, iconic looks; what I wanted this movie to be was like a companion piece to that movie. If you imagine those people in that world 25 years earlier, that was my starting process. Eventually, he would grow into that person and that factory.
You can stream Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory on Max in the United States by clicking the button below.
Is 'Wonka' a Movie Musical?
Yes! It was officially confirmed that Wonka will be a movie musical. In an interview with TIME, Chalamet spoke about recording songs at Abbey Road. We even got a small glimpse of Chalamet singing in a video from the Wonka set. The actor revealed that he has an outstanding seven musical numbers in the film.
King spoke on the Chalamet's musical numbers, saying:
[Chalamet]’s got a beautiful singing voice. The person it reminded me of was Bing Crosby. There’s quite a range, because it does go from a couple of bigger, showstopper-y sort of things, to moments of real, pure emotion and he can do it all… I’m going to sound like a crazed fan.
The History of Willy Wonka
Willy Wonka is an odd yet creative genius. The character first appeared in the novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. The candy maker is an enigma to those around him, constantly using his quirky and outside-of-the-box thinking to build his brand. Wonka is a supporting character as he looks for a successor for his chocolate factory.
The character was first brought to life by Gene Wilder in the 1971 film adaptation and later in 2005 by Johnny Depp. While many aspects of his character are known, a lot of Wonka's past has been a mystery. That's where the 2023 film comes in. The film will finally answer how Willy Wonka got his start when he met the Oompa Loompas, and why candy is his passion.
