Warner Bros. has been trying to bring back Willy Wonka for a few years now and it’s finally found the person for the job.
The Hollywood Reporter says that Paul King, the man behind one of the best-reviewed family films of all time—the recent Paddington 2—is in final negotiations to make a new film version of Willy Wonka. David Heyman, producer of the Harry Potter films as well as Gravity and Paddington, is producing from a script by Simon Rich (Saturday Night Live, Inside Out).
Wonka was created by Roald Dahl in his 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. That, of course, then became a famous 1971 movie starring Gene Wilder, and a less than stellar 2005 movie starring Johnny Depp. And while The Hollywood Reporter says Rich’s script is being kept under wraps, early reports suggested this movie might be a prequel to that famous Chocolate Factory storyline, following Wonka on another adventure. The hope is that, if this movie works, it would spawn a franchise and get to those other stories from Dahl’s world later. King’s penchant for whimsy seems like a good way to get there, too.
With a director and script in place, it seems like this film could become real sooner than later. We’ll be sure to keep you informed on which actor, if any, gets a Golden Ticket.