It wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that the world is hardly crying out to see Willy Wonka’s origin story brought to life, but there are reasons to be quietly optimistic about Warner Bros.’ Wonka, if only for the level of talent attached on either side of the camera.
Paul King directs from a script he co-wrote with Simon Farnaby, and the duo were responsible for a pair of the best-reviewed family films ever made after Paddington and its sequel drew almost universal acclaim, currently boasting respective Rotten Tomatoes scores of 97% and 99%.
Academy Award nominee Timothee Chalamet, widely regarded as one of his generation’s best actors, beat out Tom Holland to land the title role, while the esteemed supporting cast includes Olivia Colman, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Keegan-Michael Key and more.
Chalamet took to Instagram and revealed the first behind the scenes image from Wonka, revealing the chocolatier in all of his burgundy glory, which you can check out below.
Netflix recently purchased the rights to the entire Roald Dahl back catalogue, so Wonka could be WB’s final hurrah at launching a potential franchise based on the author’s work. It reads as creatively bankrupt on paper, but the track records of the key creatives indicate we could end up with something special.
