Timothée Chalamet To Play Young Willy Wonka In Origin Story
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The Willy Wonka origin story has tapped its mad-hatter chocolatier in Timothée Chalamet.
The classic Roald Dahl character has been brought to life on-screen twice before: by the indelible Gene Wilder in 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory; and later by Johnny Depp in Tim Burton’s 2005 adaptation.
Soon, fans will witness the birth of the world of pure imagination with Paddington director Paul King’s Wonka, a story chronicling the origins of the titular character before becoming the world’s renowned sweet-maker.
As reported by Deadline, Chalamet was the top contender to take on the role for quite some time, finally overcoming scheduling battles before firmly attaching him to the project.
According to the outlet’s sources, the Call Me By Your Name star will be performing in several musical numbers, showing off his singing and dancing skills on a grander scale for the first time.
David Heyman, who worked on the Harry Potter franchise as well as both Paddington outings, is on-board as producer, with An American Pickle’s Simon Rich penning the screenplay.
There are almost no other plot details, bar the absence of Charlie Bucket. In 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Wonka’s father is a dentist who detests confectionery. He shouts at the young Wonka, ‘Candy is a waste of time! No son of mine is going to be a chocolatier!’
However, it’s unclear whether that aspect of Wonka’s upbringing is officially canon, nor has it been confirmed whether the Oompa Loompas will appear in the new Warner Bros. movie.
Netflix is also due to release two separate animated shows based on Dahl’s book. While it’s unknown who’ll play the chocolatier – ideally, they’ll go for someone more exciting, like Richard Ayoade – both projects are being written and directed by Taika Waititi. The platform earlier said, ‘If Dahl had created a character of a filmmaker to adapt his work, I’m pretty sure he would have created Taika.’
As for Chalamet, he’s due to appear in arguably his biggest film to date: Dune, a sci-fi epic from acclaimed director Denis Villeneuve, earlier described as a new ‘Lord of the Rings‘ in terms of scale.
He’s also starring in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch alongside Little Women co-star Saoirse Ronan, and Adam McKay’s Don’t Look Up opposite Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Lawrence.
No further details are known about the Wonka origin story or Netflix shows at the time of writing, nor are there confirmed release dates.
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Topics: Film and TV, Now, Roald Dahl, Timothée Chalamet
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