We've been in the middle of a bunch of movie remakes lately, so it shouldn't be surprising that someone out there might be interested in remaking a classic like Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl's popular and enduring 1964 children's novel. We've already gotten two movies based on the book, but recently Selma director Ava DuVernay revealed that she would be happy to make another big screen version of the popular book.
The news comes just a few days after Roald Dahl's widow Liccy Dahl revealed the prominent author originally had different plans for the book. When he was first putting together Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, he had written Charlie Bucket as a young black character. The publishing world apparently wasn't ready for that at the time, and Liccy Dahl told BBC Radio said Dahl's agent didn't feel like the character would be good for selling books.
After the news about Willy Wonka having originally been conceived as a black character broke, people took to social media to talk dream casting for a potential movie version of the project. Hopping into one of those feeds on Twitter, Ava DuVernay revealed that she would be willing to take on the project, should a studio become interested.
Raises hand for movie adaptation.
Considering Ava DuVernay's next project is a diverse version of Madeline L'Engle's famous novel A Wrinkle in Time, DuVernay would be a director with the experience to take a well-known project and make it a whole lot more multifaceted. Of course, there's no official Chocolate Factory remake in development right now, so this isn't something we expect to see come together tomorrow. Plus, A Wrinkle in Time is in post-production for a March 9, 2018 release, so the director should be fairly busy up until then.
A little less than a year ago, we did learn that Warner Bros. has been interested in putting together a prequel to the original two films that would be more of an origin story. If it moves forward, it would look into Willy Wonka and what has been described as his "early adventures." Ryan Gosling has reportedly shown interest in the part, but that project hasn't moved forward yet.
As for whether or not we need another remake, that is a giant question mark. The 1971 movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is still a classic, largely thanks to Gene Wilder's popular Willy Wonka portrayal, as well as other lively characters brought to life on the big screen. A remake was already attempted back in 2005, directed by Tim Burton and starring Johnny Depp. While that movie was profitable at the box office, it hasn't had the longevity the original version has had. Perhaps a version with a more diverse cast would change that.
We'll let you know if a diverse version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory comes together. In the meantime, there are plenty of other remakes, reboots, sequels and more in the works. You can take a look at our list of what's currently coming together.
