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Let your imagination run wild because a new chapter of Willy Wonka is upon us. Wonka will be hitting theaters during the 2023 holiday season and feature Timothée Chalamet in the legendary role of Willy Wonka. The suspense over what’s to come in Wonka has been terrible to wait for, but the intrigue has never wavered. Months after the first trailer, the second official trailer was released on October 12.
In the opening moments of the second trailer, Willy Wonka meets an Oompa Loopma named Lofty, played by Hugh Grant. Wonka encounters trouble when he becomes a chocolate maker, but he doesn’t give up. The final moments of the footage give a glimpse of his incredible and extraordinary chocolate factory.
Wonka is going to be a sweet treat for movie-goers, but the film has been shrouded in mystery. Thankfully, we’ve gotten some morsels of information leading up to the movie’s release. From the official release date to what we know so far about Wonka’s plot, HollywoodLife has rounded up everything you need to know about Wonka.
Wonka Release Date
Wonka’s release date is currently December 15, 2023. The film’s original release date was March 17, 2023. In March 2022, Warner Bros. announced a slew of release date changes, pushing Wonka’s theater debut 8 months. With its new release date, Wonka will be the movie to see this 2023 holiday season.
What Will The Wonka Movie Be About?
Warner Bros. hasn’t released a full synopsis for Wonka just yet, but the film will be a prequel to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Wonka will focus on young Willy Wonka in the years before he started running the world’s most famous chocolate factory. It will be a truly epic origin story.
Similar to the original movie, Timothée will be showing off his vocal chops in Wonka. He has a whopping 7 musical numbers in the movie. “I hate to say it, but the dream as an artist is to throw whatever the f**k you want at the wall, you know?” the 27-year-old told Vogue UK in October 2022. “And I guess what I’m realizing is that one’s personal life, one’s adult life, can be quite boring and the artist’s life can still be extraordinary.”
In 2021, Timothée told TIME that Wonka is “not mining the darker emotions in life. It’s a celebration of being off-center and of being O.K. with the weirder parts of you that don’t quite fit in.”
Is There A Trailer For Wonka?
Yes, there are now two trailers for Wonka. The first trailer features the young candymaker as he tries to open his chocolate shop. He runs into trouble with the chocolate cartel, but they’re no match for his dreams. The footage ends with young Willy capturing an Oompa Loompa who’s been following him.
A trailer was first shown exclusively to the CinemaCon audience in April 2022, but it wasn’t released publicly at the time. The footage was nearly 2 minutes long and featured Timothée’s Wonka “busking chocolate truffles in the street as police and clergymen seemingly try to run him out of town,” according to Variety. He also tap-danced on a table and led a chorus of dancers who spelled out his name.
A golden ticket appeared in the footage with a note from Wonka’s mother written on it. The CinemaCon trailer included a snippet of Timothée’s singing about an “invisible thread” that connects us. “It’s not the chocolate that matters. It’s the people you share it with,” Timothée said in the trailer, according to Deadline.
Wonka Cast & Crew
Timothée Chalamet plays the one and only Willy Wonka. He will play a younger version of the legendary character created by Roald Dahl in his 1964 novel and originated onscreen by Gene Wilder in the 1971 classic Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory. Johnny Depp took on the role of Willy Wonka in Tim Burton’s version of Dahl’s novel.
Back in 2018, Collider reported that Ryan Gosling, Donald Glover, and Ezra Miller were the initial top contenders for the role of young Willy Wonka. After 3 years of development, Deadline announced that the Call Me By Your Name star would play Wonka in May 2021.
In October 2021, Timothée shared the first look at his character in an Instagram post, which he has since deleted. “The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last …” the Dune star captured the photo of himself in a purple coat and brown top hat. His caption was a nod to one of Gene’s iconic lines in the 1971 film.
Sally Hawkins will play Wonka’s mother. The cast also includes Keegan Michael-Key, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, Jim Carter, Matt Lucas, Calah Lane, Natasha Rothwell, and more.
Keegan had nothing but praise for Timothée’s performance as the iconic Wonka. “There’s this wonderful effortlessness about how he plays Wonka,” Keegan told The Hollywood Reporter. He added that Timothée “drips charisma and a wonderful confidence. He’s just a really delicious artist.”
Wonka was directed by Paul King, who notably wrote and directed the beloved Paddington movies. He co-wrote Wonka with Simon Farnaby, a writer and actor. David Heyman, Luke Kelly, and Alexandra Derbyshire served as producers. The Divine Comedy’s Neil Hannon wrote original songs for the film, according to Deadline.
Where Was Wonka Filmed?
Wonka started production in October 2021 and was filmed in England. In February 2022, Timothée was seen in full Wonka gear filming in Oxford and Bath. He transformed into young Willy Wonka in a purple velvet coat and a top hat.
The Oscar nominee also spent time recording music for the film at Abbey Road Studios in London. “I felt out of my league,” he told TIME. “Like I was desecrating history!”
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