Haven’t you always wondered what happened in Willy Wonka’s life that made him act out so outrageous and terrifyingly? Or maybe you just really wanted to consume an edible teacup. Whatever the matter is, you’ve probably seen Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory or read the novel as a child, and now you’ll get to see a whole new side of Wonka. Hopefully, it is not this side.
In Wonka, fans will see the origin story of Roald Dahl’s famous quirky chocolate maker/attempted child kidnapper. Timothee Chalamet plays the character in this new story, written by Paddington’s Paul King.
Even though Wonka is from Dahl’s novels, Warner Bros. bought the rights to the character back in 2016, and now Chalamet gets to don that signature tophat. Here is the official synopsis:
Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl’s most iconic children’s book and one of the best-selling children’s books of all time, Wonka tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.
So, yes- Wonka is a prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, though it can stand on its own. King told EW, “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.”
The filmmakers were originally interested in Ryan Gosling to play the titular chocolatier, but he had other plans on the horizon. Timmy will be great, though!
