Warner Bros. has given the green-light toWonka, an origin story centered around the titular chocolatiers' early adventures. It will come out on St. Patrick’s Day, June 11, 2025.Wonkais a prequel toRoald Dahl’s 1964 novelCharlie and the Chocolate Factory. A popular movie based on the book came out in 1971, and Warner Bros. produced aTim Burton remakein 2005. The studio has been planning a spin-off since they bought the rights to the Willy Wonka character back in 2016.
David Heyman, known for theHarry Potterfranchise and thePaddingtonfilms, will produce the film. Paul King, the writer-director of bothPaddingtonfilms, will helm the project. The script is by Simon Rich and Simon Farnaby. Rich produced and wrote the recent HBO Max comedyAn American Pickle; Farnaby was King’s co-writer onPaddington 2.
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In 2020, Netflix announced that Taika Watiti would create two animated series set in the Willy Wonka universe. That same year, Warner Bros. premiered another Roald Dahl adaptation,The Witches, onHBO Max. Not only that, but the studio has already announced its intention to create a series of filmsbased on the works of classic children’s author Dr. Seuss. That makes it possible that they’re doing the same for Dahl.
Still, if their plan is to start a connected universe of Roald Dahl films, the studio needs to be careful.Remakes and reboots flopwhen fans of the originals feel the new versions fail to capture the same emotions. There are fans who love both film versions of Dahl’s story but still wouldn’t want to see a third. For Warner Bros., trying to expand the franchise too fast could be a costly mistake.
There’s also the challenge of who to pick to play Willy Wonka. In the 1971 film, actor Gene Wilder played Wonka. So, even today most people identify Wilder with the Wonka character.Johnny Depp played Wonkain the 2005 adaptation. Depp was praised for his unique performance, but Wilder himself reportedly hated it. Tom Holland and Timothée Chalamet are both reportedly being considered for the role.
Thankfully, the reboot recycles many of its key creatives fromPaddington. That film also retold a classic novel, but it managed to do the story (and its iconic lead character) justice. The combined talents of its creative team may bring enough to the table to justify the existence of yet another Willy Wonka movie.
