What is ‘Wonka’ about?

Willy Wonka is given the origin story treatment in the upcoming film, Wonka.

Directed by Paul King (Paddington), the prequel film sees Timothée Chalamet take on the iconic character, who originates from Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie And The Chocolate Factory.

Wonka also boasts a star-studded supporting cast, including Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Jim Carter, and Matt Lucas.

What is the premise of Wonka?

As shown in the trailer, Wonka serves as a prequel to Charlie And The Chocolate Factory and follows Willy Wonka in his youth prior to the opening of his factory. As such, unlike past screen versions of the character, Wonka will be largely unshackled from Dahl’s source material. The film’s script is written by King and Simon Farnaby.

A synopsis reads: “Starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role, this irresistibly vivid and inventive big screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, chock-full of ideas and determined to the change the world one delectable bite at a time – proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible.”

Speaking at a Q&A earlier this month, King said he wanted to make a “sort of companion piece” to the original 1971 film adaptation starring Gene Wilder.

“Roald Dahl loves to work with these sort of storybook images and so it’s very nice to be able to make a storybook world for those characters to sit in where hopefully the whole thing feels like a cohesive whole rather than magic dropped onto a sort of more mundane world,” King added.

What is the release date?

The film is scheduled to be released in cinemas on December 15, 2023.

Prior to Wonka, Chalamet will reprise his role of Paul Atreides in Dune: Part Two from director Denis Villeneuve. The sequel is released on November 3.