Get ready to dive back into a world of “pure imagination” with the first trailer for “Wonka.” Timothee Chalamet takes on the top-hatted purveyor of sweets, Willy Wonka, for a new take on the character that shows just how the character became so acclaimed, from “Paddington” director Paul King.
King crafts a magical, fantastical world wherein a young Willy Wonka arrives in London with dreams of opening his own chocolate shop. Unfortunately for him, the “Chocolate Cartel” won’t let him, leading Wonka to try to find a way to make his chocolate new and unique. There’s a lot of story packed into this trailer and not necessarily callbacks to the original film. If anything, the final frames introduce us to Hugh Grant’s Oompa Loompa, who whips out a flute and starts playing the tune from the 1971 film.
News on “Wonka” has been slow to come out ever since social media saw the first photos of Chalamet in costume back in October of 2021. Last year, at the theater exhibition CinemaCon in Las Vegas, attendees there were able to see footage of Chalamet and co-star Keegan-Michael Key sing about chocolate.
Earlier this year it was revealed that actor Hugh Grant would be playing an Oompa Loompa; the film is said to follow Wonka and the Oompa Loompas as they go on their first adventure.
The movie has had its release date moved around. In March of 2022, it was announced by Warner Bros. that the film, initially planned for a release in March of 2023, was shifted to December of the same year. Now, it will debut just five days before the next DCU movie, the sequel to “Aquaman.”
Olivia Colman, Rakhee Thakrar, Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Jim Carter and Matt Lucas also star in the film, which is directed by “Paddington” filmmaker Paul King and written by King and Simon Farnaby.
Being a prequel, the movie hopes to set itself apart from the 1971 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s book, wherein Gene Wilder portrayed the iconic chocolate factory owner, Willy Wonka. In 2005, Tim Burton tried to craft an adaptation closer to Dahl’s text, with Johnny Depp as the eponymous Wonka.
Watch the full trailer above.
“Wonka” opens exclusively in theaters on Dec. 15.
