Oompa loompa doompety doo, we’ve got a Wonka update for you. Oompa loompa doompety dee, the prequel is set for a 2023 release (via The Hollywood Reporter).
Based on the character by Roald Dahl, Warner Bros. has been trying to get an origin story about an adventurous chocolatier, titled Wonka, off the ground since 2016. Led by Harry Potter producer David Heyman, the studio is putting together a film about “a young Willy Wonka and his adventures prior to opening the world’s most famous chocolate factory.” Now, Warner Bros. is finally moving forward with the project and has circled it for a March 17th, 2023 release.
As previously reported, Wonka will be directed by Paul King, who brought whimsy and heart to Paddington and Paddington 2. In 2018, Heyman and King were eyeing Ryan Gosling, Donald Glover, and Ezra Miller to play Wonka himself. Collider reports that Tom Holland and Timothée Chalamet are now being eyed for the titular role.
Roald Dahl’s classic 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been adapted a few times, most notably the 1971 Gene Wilder vehicle Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and the 2005 update Charlie & the Chocolate Factory starring Johnny Depp and directed by Tim Burton. In his last interview, Wilder called the 2005 version “an insult.”
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