With Roald Dahl’s original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story having been adapted for film twice, the next time we see Willy Wonka on the big screen, he’ll be different than traditionally depicted. Warner Bros’ upcoming Wonka will wind the clock back to follow along with a younger version of the character, who will be played by Dune’s Timothée Chalamet. Just a few weeks after it was announced that Keegan-Michael Key will participate in the Willy Wonka prequel, now many other cast members have been revealed, including MonsterVerse actress Sally Hawkins.
With Wonka having kicked off production in London today, word’s come in from THR on who else will star in the prequel. Along with Sally Hawkins, who played Dr. Vivienne Graham in 2014’s Godzilla and 2019’s Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Rowan Atkinson, a.k.a. Mr. Bean himself, and Olivia Colman, who recently starred as Queen Elizabeth II in Netflix’s The Crown, will also star in undisclosed roles.
Those who’ve been following along with Wonka’s development were already aware this project would bring Paul King, director and writer of the first two Paddington movies, and Simon Farnaby, who co-wrote Paddington 2 with King, back together. Well, it turns out Wonka will be even more of a Paddington reunion than expected, as along with Sally Hawkins, who played Mary Brown in both Paddington movies, Tom Davis and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith are joining the cast, and Farnaby will also appear onscreen. The other casting additions include Mathew Baynton, Jim Carter, Rich Fulcher, Matt Lucas, Paterson Joseph, Calah Lane, Colin O’Brien, Natasha Rothwell, Rakhee Thakrar and Ellie White.
But wait, the list of Paddington vets working on Wonka grows even bigger when looking behind the scenes, as David Heyman is producing, Mark Everson is attached as editor and Lindy Hemming will be the costume designer. Wonka’s other offscreen talent includes Seamus McGarvey as the director of photography, Nathan Crowley as the production designer and Neil Hannon from the band The Divine Comedy writing original songs for the movie. Along with all this information about Wonka’s cast and crew, Warner Bros also released the following premise for the prequel, describing it as an exploration of the "vivid, mythical beginnings of the imaginative young inventor before he becomes the renowned scrumdiddlyumptious Mozart of chocolate.”
Wonka was first announced back in 2016, when Warner Bros secured the rights to the Willy Wonka character, and by February 2018, Paul King had signed onto the project. In years past, actors like Donald Glover, Ryan Gosling, Ezra Miller and Tom Holland had been floated as candidates to play the younger Willy Wonka, but ultimately Timothée Chalamet was chosen to play the same role once held by Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp. Along with his appearance as Paul Atreides in Dune, Chalamet also has The French Dispatch and Don’t Look Up on the way.
Wonka is slated for March 17, 2023. While we wait for more news on its progress, find out what movies are coming out sooner with our 2021 release schedule and 2022 release schedule.
