Timothée Chalamet is creating the ultimate escape from chocolate.
The Academy Award nominee plays Willy Wonka in the prequel musical “Wonka,” directed by “Paddington” director Paul King. Chalamet leads the origin story produced in part by the Roald Dahl Company, behind the novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”
“Wonka” comes on the heels of the original 1971 film and 2005’s “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” with Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp both playing different iterations of the beloved chocolatier. “Wonka” centers on a young and optimistic Willy Wonka before he opens his elusive chocolate factory. The screenplay is by director King and Simon Farnaby, who previously collaborated on the screenplay for ‘Paddington 2’.
Olivia Colman, Keegan-Michael Key, Sally Hawkins, Matt Lucas, Rowan Atkinson, Natasha Rothwell, Rufus Jones and Simon Farnaby star opposite Chalamet. The first look at CinemaCon showed Chalamet singing and dancing as Wonka, as well as Hugh Grant as Oompa Loompa.
Director King recently said Entertainment Weekly that Chalamet was the only actor capable of playing the iconic character. “I really don’t think there are many people who could play this role,” said King. “Those are huge shoes to fill. He’s such a brilliant actor at expressing really deep emotion in the context of a family film. He is simply extraordinary even in singing and dancing. He has the voice of an angel and the toes of… I don’t know which fingers. I can’t wait for people to see it. I think he will blow people away.
Chalamet himself shared that he’s thrilled that “Wonka” is being embraced by a “young, non-cynical audience” in theaters. “In a time and climate of intense political rhetoric, when there is always so much bad news, hopefully this is a piece of chocolate,” Chalamet told Vogue earlier this year.
“Wonka” is produced by David Heyman through his Heyday Films banner, while Luke Kelly is also producing alongside executive producers Michael Siegel and Alexandra Derbyshire.
“Wonka” will premiere in theaters on December 15th. Check out the teaser trailer below.
