If you want to view paradise, simply look around and...hand the reins to Taika Waititi.
Netflix has announced that the Thor: Ragnarok and Jojo Rabbit director will write, direct, and executive produce not one but two series set in the world of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory—including an original story about the Oompa-Loompas. “If Dahl had created a character of a filmmaker to adapt his work, I’m pretty sure he would have created Taika,” Netflix vice president of original animation Melissa Cobb said in a statement.
Netflix announced that Waititi had been brought onboard to adapt Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a new animated series event, following in the footsteps of previous adaptations, such as the live-action takes starring Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp as the iconic Willy Wonka. In addition, Waititi will also create a separate animated series, an original story about the Oompa-Loompas, Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory helpers, which “builds out their world.”
According to a press release (from the Hollywood Reporter), both Netflix and the Roald Dahl Story Company thought Waititi was the perfect choice to adapt this particular story and grow its world. “There is something undeniably Wonka-esque about Taika’s creative flair and inimitable sense of humor, and we cannot think of anyone more perfectly suited to leading the creative charge,” Gideon Simeloff, Roald Dahl Story Company’s commercial and entertainment director said.
This is the first project that stems from Netflix’s 2018 deal with Dahl’s estate to produce adaptations of his most-famous works—hopefully avoiding the same pratfalls that Dr. Seuss adaptations like The Lorax have stumbled into, along with that truly awful Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka monstrosity. According to THR, the streaming network is currently looking for big-profile names to adapt stories like Matilda, The Twits, The BFG, and others.
Waititi recently won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for Jojo Rabbit. He’s currently working on the next film in Marvel’s Thor franchise, Thor: Love and Thunder, which will see the return of Natalie Portman as Jane...who we can now refer to as the new Thor. There are also rumors he’s working with Lucasfilm on a possible Star Wars project, following his work in The Mandalorian.
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