Wonka (film)

Wonka
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Paul King
Screenplay by	Simon Farnaby Paul King
Story by	Paul King
Based on	Characters by Roald Dahl
Produced by	David Heyman Alexandra Derbyshire Luke Kelly
Starring	Timothée Chalamet Calah Lane Keegan-Michael Key Paterson Joseph Matt Lucas Mathew Baynton Sally Hawkins Rowan Atkinson Jim Carter Natasha Rothwell Olivia Colman Hugh Grant
Cinematography	Chung-hoon Chung
Edited by	Mark Everson
Music by	Joby Talbot Neil Hannon
Production companies	Village Roadshow Pictures The Roald Dahl Story Company Heyday Films Domain Entertainment
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release dates	October 24, 2023 (2023-10-24) (ShowEast) December 8, 2023 (2023-12-08) (United Kingdom) December 15, 2023 (2023-12-15) (United States)
Running time	116 minutes
Countries	United Kingdom United States
Language	English
Budget	$125 million
Box office	$403.3 million

Wonka is a 2023 musical fantasy film directed by Paul King, who co-wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby based on a story by King. It tells the origin story of Willy Wonka, a character in the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl, featuring his early days as a chocolatier. The film stars Timothée Chalamet in the title role and an ensemble cast including Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Natasha Rothwell, Olivia Colman, and Hugh Grant. It is the third live-action film based on Dahl's novel, following Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory (1971) and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005).

Development began after Warner Bros. Pictures reacquired the rights to the character in October 2016 and announced that the film would serve as an origin story. King developed Wonka to exist as a "companion piece" to the 1971 film, and therefore reprised some of the music, thematic elements, and visual design of the Oompa Loompas. In May 2021, Chalamet was confirmed to be portraying Wonka and the supporting cast were announced in September of that year. Filming began in the United Kingdom in September 2021, taking place in Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden, in Watford, as well as Oxford, Lyme Regis, Bath, St Albans and at the Rivoli Ballroom in Crofton Park, London. The original songs for the film were contributed by Neil Hannon, while its original score was provided by Joby Talbot.

Wonka had its world premiere in London at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, on November 28, 2023. It was released in the United Kingdom on December 8 and in the United States on December 15 by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film has grossed $403 million worldwide and received generally positive reviews from critics. For his performance, Chalamet was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy. The film also received two Critics’ Choice Award nominations for Best Young Actor/Actress for Lane & Costume Design.

Plot

Willy Wonka, an aspiring magician, inventor, and chocolatier, arrives in Europe to establish his chocolate shop at the Galeries Gourmet. Burning through his meager savings, he is coerced to stay at Mrs. Scrubitt's boardinghouse by her henchman Bleacher and, despite orphan Noodle's warning about the fine print, signs a contract because he is illiterate. To pay them off, Wonka introduces "hoverchocs", chocolates that make people fly, facing mockery from three rival chocolatiers who call the Chief of Police to confiscate his earnings for selling without a chocolate store.

Unable to pay the exorbitant fees imposed on him by the contract, Wonka is captured and forced to work in a launderette for Mrs. Scrubitt alongside other captives: Abacus Crunch, Piper Benz, Larry Chucklesworth, Lottie Bell, and Noodle. Learning of a cartel consisting of the rival chocolatiers, who exploit the police chief's weakness for chocolate to force Wonka to leave town, Wonka makes his escape with the help of Noodle; while he promises her a lifetime supply of chocolates, she promises to teach him how to read. Wonka tells Noodle that his affinity for chocolate stems from his late mother, and mentions the theft of his chocolates by an enigmatic small orange man who has been stealing them for years. To produce his signature chocolate, Wonka and Noodle travel to the local zoo, milking Abigail the giraffe. Together with other launderette workers, they embark on a chocolate selling crusade to alleviate their debts while using tunnels underneath the city to evade Scrubitt and the chief. Unmasking an Oompa Loompa named Lofty as the thief, Wonka discovers that the Oompa Loompa seeks retribution for the cocoa beans Wonka took from Loompaland years ago under Lofty's watch, before he escapes by duping Wonka.

Using the funds raised from selling chocolates, the captives open Wonka's dream chocolate store. The Chocolate Cartel and the chief, now unable to arrest him since he has a legitimate shop, expose him to Scrubitt. Infusing his chocolates with Yeti sweat, Scrubitt incites chaos among the customers, leading to the destruction of Wonka's store. Wonka agrees to the cartel's offer to leave town by ship to pay off everyone's debts. All of the workers are released from the launderette except Noodle; cartel leader Slugworth pays Scrubitt to keep her there indefinitely. Wonka deduces that Noodle is Slugworth's niece, before he and Lofty are forced to jump off the boat that has been rigged to explode. After rescuing Noodle with the help of the group, they devise a strategy to obtain the cartel's incriminating account book.

Taking advantage of Abigail's distraction, Wonka and Noodle infiltrate the cartel's base. They are confronted by the cartel, who reveal that Noodle, who was reported dead to her mother Dorothy, was left by Slugworth to Scrubitt in order to eliminate her claim to the family fortune. The cartel attempts to drown Wonka and Noodle in chocolate, but Wonka enables Lofty to rescue them and unveils the cartel's misdeeds to the authorities and the public. The Cartel members eat the entire stock of "hoverchocs" and end up flying in the air with no way to come down. Wonka’s friends release the cartel's chocolate reserve through a fountain, laced with Wonka's unique ingredients, ruining the cartel's enterprise. The cartel meets their downfall, and the police arrest the chief. The crowd revels in tasting Wonka's chocolate fountain, and Wonka unwraps the last chocolate bar his mother had given him, discovering a golden paper with a message that says what matters is "who you share the chocolate with". He reunites Noodle with her mother Dorothy Smith, settles his debt with Lofty, and acquires an abandoned castle to commence building his own factory with Lofty as his tasting chef.

In an epilogue, the captives return to their old lives, and Scrubitt and Bleacher are arrested after their attempt to eliminate evidence of sabotaging Wonka's shop backfires.

Cast

See also: List of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory characters

Timothée Chalamet portrays the title character in the film

• Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka, an aspiring inventor and chocolatier with a difficult dream to open his very own chocolate shop
  • Colin O'Brien as Young Willy Wonka
• Calah Lane as Noodle, an orphan girl who becomes Willy's assistant
• Keegan-Michael Key as the unnamed chocolate-addicted chief of police who is in cahoots with the Chocolate Cartel
• Paterson Joseph as Arthur Slugworth, a corrupt businessman and the leader of the Medilin Chocolate Cartel,
• Matt Lucas as Gerald Prodnose, a corrupt businessman and member of the Medillin chocolate Cartel
• Mathew Baynton as Felix Fickelgruber, a corrupt businessman and member of the Chocolate Cartel who retches at the word "poor".
• Sally Hawkins as Willy Wonka's late mother
• Rowan Atkinson as Father Julius, a corrupt chocolate-addict priest in league with the Chocolate Cartel
• Jim Carter as Abacus Crunch
• Natasha Rothwell as Piper Benz
• Olivia Colman as Mrs. Scrubitt
• Hugh Grant as Lofty, an Oompa-Loompa that becomes Wonka's ally
• Rich Fulcher as Larry Chucklesworth
• Rakhee Thakrar as Lottie Bell
• Tom Davis as Bleacher
• Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Officer Affable
• Simon Farnaby as Basil
• Charlotte Ritchie as Barbara
• Ellie White as Gwennie
• Sophie Winkleman as The Countess
• Murray McArthur as Ship Captain
• Tracy Ifeachor as Dorothy Smith, Noodle's mother
• Isy Suttie as Fruit & Veg Vendor
• Phil Wang as Colin
• Tim FitzHigham as a Sinister Ship Captain

Production

Development

In October 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures reacquired the rights to the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (1964) character Willy Wonka from Roald Dahl's estate, with a film in development from producers David Heyman and Michael Siegel. The announcement of the project was met with a mostly negative response as it came less than two months after the death of Gene Wilder, who portrayed Willy Wonka in the 1971 film adaptation. The following month, Heyman revealed that the project would not be a third straight adaptation of the book: "They've done two films, quite different. But it's possibly an origin story. We're just in the early stages of it, working with a writer called Simon Rich, which is wonderful."

In February 2018, it was announced Paul King was in negotiations to direct. That same year, it was revealed the film would serve as a prequel to the events of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. King grew up as a fan of both the book and the 1971 film adaptation, and enjoyed Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation as an adult. "I was a bit nervous because origin stories don't always feel essential, and I was aware this is such a beloved property," he said. After being approached by Heyman to direct, King felt the urge to revisit Dahl's book and was surprised: "I realised that it’s also an amazing emotional masterpiece. I really wasn’t expecting that. Or maybe I had forgotten how incredibly touching it is. Poor little Charlie suffers so much. And you’re so rooting for him. I found myself in tears at the end of it." King's hiring as director, as well as the project's title Wonka, was announced in January 2021.

King wanted the film to double as a prequel to both the book and the 1971 film adaptation; as such, King decided to set his film 25 years before the events of the story. King worked very closely with the Dahl estate, namely producer Luke Kelly, who was Dahl's grandson. In creating the supporting characters, King was inspired by several of Dahl's other stories: the trio of villains, the "Chocolate Cartel", drew inspiration from Boggis, Bunce, and Bean from Dahl's Fantastic Mr. Fox; and the character of Mrs. Scrubbit was inspired by Dahl's short story "The Landlady". King developed the screenplay with his Paddington 2 (2017) collaborator Simon Farnaby; Jeff Nathanson, Simon Rich, and Simon Stephenson also provided additional literary material.

Casting

Timothée Chalamet and Tom Holland were the frontrunners for the title role after King joined the project. Donald Glover, Ryan Gosling, and Ezra Miller were previously considered for the role. According to Paul King, "We were pretty open to looking for the right person. But, for me, it really was a list of one." King was impressed with Chalamet's performances in Call Me by Your Name (2017) and Lady Bird (2017). King offered the actor the part with no audition after seeing his high school performances on YouTube, which proved his vocal and dancing skills. Chalamet grew up as a fan of both previous Wonka movies and wanted to portray the character in a different way than Wilder and Johnny Depp had: "It was a total inverse of that Willy Wonka with a demented look in his eye that we all know. How would that character have started, to land in a place where he’s still childlike but sort of broken?" King likened Chalamet's Wonka to "a Charlie Chaplin innocent character, almost like the immigrant tramp figure coming to this world for the first time, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed and completely naive – with this childlike wonder but none of the street smarts that he’s going to develop over the next 25 years." Chalamet was officially cast in May 2021 and was paid $9 million for his involvement.

In September 2021, it was announced Keegan-Michael Key, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, and Jim Carter were among the newest additions to the cast, with Farnaby also set for a role.

Filming

Principal photography began in the United Kingdom in September 2021, with Seamus McGarvey set as cinematographer, Nathan Crowley as production designer, Mark Everson as film editor, and Lindy Hemming as costume designer. Filming took place in historic Lyme Regis and Bath, as well as at Warner Bros. Studios, Leavesden in Watford. Filming also occurred at the Rivoli Ballroom in Brockley, London. By December, McGarvey exited as cinematographer with Chung Chung-hoon replacing him. Scenes were shot in Oxford in December and February.

Music and soundtrack

Main article: Wonka (soundtrack)

Neil Hannon, lead singer of the Divine Comedy, contributed original songs for the film. The musical score was composed by Joby Talbot. The soundtrack containing the original songs and score was released by WaterTower Music on December 8, 2023.

Release

Wonka had special screenings at ShowEast on October 24, 2023, and at the auditorium at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads on November 19. On November 20 the film had a special premiere in Tokyo, with a red carpet attended by director Paul King, producers David Heyman and Alexandra Derbyshire, and stars Timothée Chalamet and Hugh Grant. The film had its world premiere in London, at the Royal Festival Hall, Southbank Centre, on November 28, 2023, and was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United Kingdom on December 8, 2023, followed by the United States, on December 15, 2023, in both conventional theaters and in Dolby Cinema and IMAX. It was originally set for release on March 17, 2023.

Marketing

The marketing campaign from Warner Bros. Pictures for Wonka began on October 10, 2021, when Chalamet shared a photograph of himself in costume as Willy Wonka. The image was posted on Chalamet's Instagram with the caption "The suspense is terrible, I hope it will last," a reference to the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder as the title character, which itself is a quote from the 1895 play The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde. The Guardian noted that the image was met with mixed reception online.

On April 26, 2022, footage of Chalamet as Willy Wonka was shared during Warner Bros. Pictures' presentation at CinemaCon. It also featured a rendition of the song "Pure Imagination" from the 1971 film. Deadline described the trailer: "Think Fantastic Beasts in regards to period (early 20th century), but so much more fun". The following year at the convention, Warner Bros. screened a teaser trailer for Wonka, which also saw a first-look at Grant as an Oompa-Loompa, which caused criticism from actors with dwarfism, including Jason Acuña, who remarked, "So I guess Hugh Grant, you're now identifying as a little person". IndieWire praised Chalamet's transformation as Wonka remarking: "like the chocolate he concocts in this first trailer, it will make you fly". The trailer was released to the public on July 11, 2023, alongside a teaser poster. The film was also promoted during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on November 23, 2023, in the form of a float called "The Deliciously Delectable World of Wonka." On November 27, 2023, IHOP introduced a Wonka Menu to promote the film.

Reception

Box office

As of January 4, 2024, Wonka has grossed $150.2 million in the United States and Canada, and $253.1 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $403.3 million.

In the United States and Canada, Wonka was projected to gross around $40 million from 4,150 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $14.4 million on its first day, including $3.5 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut with $39 million, becoming the first live-action musical to top the box office in the post-COVID pandemic era. It made $18.8 million in its second weekend (and a total of $28.4 million over the four-day Christmas frame), finishing second behind newcomer Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom. The film returned to the top of the box office in its third weekend, grossing $24 million with a 33% increase from the previous weekend.

One week before its domestic release, Wonka grossed $43.2 million from 37 countries. The biggest totals were from the United Kingdom ($11.1 million), Mexico ($5.2 million), Spain ($4.4 million), Germany ($3.6 million), Italy ($3.4 million), China ($3.3 million), Japan ($3.1 million), and Brazil ($2 million).

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 296 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.3/10. The website's consensus reads: "With director Paul King at the helm and some solid new songs at the ready, the warmly old-fashioned Wonka puts a suitably sweet spin on the classic character while still leaving some room for the source material's darker undertones." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 66 out of 100, based on 64 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 85% overall positive score, with 64% saying they would definitely recommend the film.

Rotten Tomatoes found the initial reactions on social media to be mostly positive, with some reviewers criticizing the script and others praising Chalamet's performance and the film's presentation. The website then stated that the film "is silly and fun for the whole family with catchy music and stunning production design, even if it loses some of the edge found in its predecessors." The BBC reported that a number of critics likened the film tonally to the Paddington films, and despite "several glowing reviews", some felt that Wonka "lacks the darker elements of previous versions". Chalamet's performance was both praised and criticized for his singing, while some considered him miscast.

In a 5 out of 5 star review, Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian wrote that the film is "spectacular, imaginative, sweet-natured and funny". Although Bradshaw appreciated the Chalamet's performance, finding it better than previous ones, the film does not explain "what happened to him as a young man to turn him into the somewhat ambiguous, even sinister adult figure with a streak of Dahlian cruelty", wondering if a possible sequel " something happens to sour our young hero".

Owen Gleiberman of Variety wrote that "Wonka may be the squarest big-scale Hollywood musical in decades" as a "fun, rousing, impeccably staged, jaw-droppingly old-fashioned musical prequel", but "it might have been an even bigger hit had it been a little less sanded off for children". Stephanie Zacharek of Time wrote that "Wonka is carefully calibrated to bring joy" which is "plenty of feel-goodism for one musical", with "grand but somehow flat-looking sets" and "with musical numbers that stress the importance of dreams and wonder and friendship", but whitch "gives us everything but that quiet, thrumming sensation".

In a more negative review, David Rooney of The Hollywood Reporter found the film "sickly sweet and hopelessly twee" with the character of Willy Wonka "neutered, stripped of any edge that might have made him interesting" and that "a number of gifted actors are either misused or wasted". Johnny Oleksinski of New York Post also pointed out that "it’s a shame that in this origin story the viewer doesn’t leave with any deepened understanding of who Willy Wonka is" and "absent of any edge or layered characters", stressing that "Wonka is at its most enjoyable when you forget the novel ".

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Nominee(s)	Result	Ref.
Astra Film and Creative Awards	February 26, 2024	Best Publicity Campaign	Wonka	Pending
Critics' Choice Movie Awards	January 14, 2024	Best Young Actor/Actress	Calah Lane	Pending
		Best Costume Design	Lindy Hemming	Pending
Golden Globe Awards	January 7, 2024	Best Actor – Motion Picture Musical or Comedy	Timothée Chalamet	Pending
Hollywood Music in Media Awards	November 15, 2023	Original Song — Sci-Fi/Fantasy Film	Neil Hannon, Simon Farnaby, and Paul King ("A World of Your Own")	Nominated
			Neil Hannon, Simon Farnaby, and Paul King ("You've Never Had Chocolate Like This")	Nominated
		Best Song – Onscreen Performance (Film)	Timothée Chalamet ("A World of Your Own")	Nominated
		Music Themed Film, Biopic, or Musical	Wonka	Nominated

External links

• Official website
• Wonka at AllMovie
• Wonka at IMDb