Wonka (film)

***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, along with newcomer Calah Lane and an ensemble cast including Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Tom Davis, Olivia Colman and Hugh Grant.

Development began after Warner Bros. Pictures, which previously released its own adaptation of the 1964 novel in 2005, acquired the rights to the titular character in October 2016 and revealed the film would serve as an origin story for Wonka. In May 2021, Chalamet was confirmed to be playing Wonka and the supporting cast were announced in September of that year. Principal photography began in the United Kingdom in September 2021. Filming took 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 28 November 2023, and was released in the United Kingdom on 8 December. It is set to be released in the United States on 15 December 2023 by Warner Bros. Pictures. The film received generally positive reviews from critics.

## Wonka

### Written by

Simon Farnaby
Paul King

### Music by

John Talbot
Neil Hannon

### Produced by

David Heyman
Alexandra Derbyshire
Luke Kelly

## Plot

Aspiring inventor and chocolatier Willy Wonka arrives by boat in an unnamed European city to fulfill his dream of opening his chocolate shop at the Galeries Gourmet. He decides to stay at a laundromat owned by the devious Scrubbit and her henchman Bleacher. Despite warnings from Noodle, an orphan who stays at Scrubbit's, the illiterate Wonka willingly signs her contract, which forces him to pay excessive charges during his stay. A confident Wonka goes to the Galeries Gourmet to sell his "hoverchocs" which make those who eat them fly. The Galeries' three main chocolatiers – Slugworth, Prodnose, and Fickelgruber – mock Wonka's chocolates and call the Chief of Police to confiscate his earnings for the day.

Unable to pay his room's rent, Scrubbit forces Wonka down to the launderette to work 10,000 days to repay his debt. He works with others trapped by Scrubbit: Noodle, accountant Abacus, plumber Piper, comedian Larry, and telephone operator Lottie. Abacus informs him that Slugworth, Prodnose, and Fickelgruber are dubbed the "Chocolate Cartel" who are in cahoots to eliminate their competition. The Chocolate Cartel has a base of operations located under a parish, run by the corrupt Father Julius and his "chocoholic" monks, where they store a large reserve of chocolate. Wonka hatches a plan to manipulate Bleacher and Scrubbit into falling in love with each other, enabling him and Noodle to secretly leave the laundromat and begin selling his chocolates. The Chocolate Cartel exploits the Chief's love of chocolates to threaten Wonka into leaving town. Wonka tells Noodle that his love of chocolate came from his deceased mother, who gave him one last chocolate bar before her passing. Noodle teaches Wonka how to read.

During one run, Wonka realizes his chocolates have been stolen by a mysterious orange man who had been stalking him for years, and he and Noodle travel to the local zoo to milk its giraffe Abigail and bond. Wonka and Noodle recruit Abacus, Piper, Larry, and Lottie to help him sell chocolates to pay their debts and increase their popularity while evading Scrubbit and the Chief. Meanwhile, Wonka catches the man who had been stealing his chocolates, an Oompa Loompa named Lofty. Years before, Wonka had taken precious cocoa beans from the Oompa Loompas under Lofty's watch, banishing Lofty to hunt down Wonka to repay his debts. Lofty fools Wonka into escaping.

Wonka's group earns enough money to open his dream chocolate store to an excited crowd. However, the Chief and the Chocolate Cartel had caught wind of Wonka's operations. They rat them out to Scrubbit, who taints his chocolates with yeti sweat, making the customers' hair grow excessively and their skin discolor. The angry crowd ransacks and destroys Wonka's store in retaliation. As the team returns to the launderette, the Cartel reveals themselves as the masterminds to Wonka and offers to pay off everyone's debts if he leaves town and stops making chocolate forever. Wonka accepts the offer and leaves by boat that night. Lofty joins Wonka aboard the boat and motivates him to return and fight back against the Cartel before the two abandon ship upon realizing it is set to explode.

With their debts paid, Abacus, Piper, Larry, and Lottie are released from the launderette, but Slugworth pays Scrubbit to keep Noodle inside forever. Wonka and the group rescue Noodle, and Wonka tells her that he has deduced that she is the daughter of Slugworth's deceased brother. After Noodle was left by her birth mother to Slugworth, he realized she could challenge his claim to the family fortune. Slugworth disposed of his niece to Scrubbit and lied to her mother that she had died. Wonka and the group decide to form an elaborate plan to expose the Cartel through an accounts book Abacus had previously spotted when he worked for Slugworth.

Using a distraction caused by Abigail, Wonka and Noodle enter the base but are cornered by the Cartel, who force them into their reserves of chocolate to drown them. Wonka tells them to give a jar of hoverchocs to Lofty to repay his debts, but the Cartel and Julius eat the chocolates, making Lofty knock out Julius and rescue the two. Confronting the Cartel and the Chief outside, Wonka and Noodle expose their actions to the police and the public through their account book, and release their chocolate reserve laced with Wonka's ingredients through a fountain. The Cartel uncontrollably levitates due to the hoverchocs, while the Chief of Police is arrested. The crowd celebrates by tasting Wonka's chocolate fountain. Wonka unwraps his mother's chocolate bar, where he sees a golden ticket with a last message from his mother telling him that chocolate is best shared. Wonka shares his mother's chocolate with his friends.

Wonka helps Noodle meet her birth mother. He then purchases an abandoned castle and begins building his factory, hiring Lofty to become his chief taste tester. Lofty then narrates through song that Abacus reunited with his family, Piper rejoined her friends, Lottie returned to her job, Larry resumed his comedy career and wooed back his ex-wife, and Scrubbit and Bleacher were apprehended.

## Cast

* Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka
* Calah Lane as Noodle
* Keegan-Michael Key as the Chief-of-Police
* Paterson Joseph as Arthur Slugworth
* Matt Lucas as Prodnose
* Mathew Baynton as Fickelgruber
* Sally Hawkins as Willy Wonka's mother
* Rowan Atkinson as Father Julius
* Jim Carter as Abacus Crunch
* Tom Davis as Bleacher
* Olivia Colman as Mrs. Scrubbit
* Hugh Grant as Oompa-Loompa

## Production

In October 2016, Warner Bros. Pictures reacquired the rights to the *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory* (1964) character Willy Wonka created by Roald Dahl, with a film in development from producers David Heyman and Michael Siegel. In February 2018, it was announced Paul King was in negotiations to direct. That same year, it was reported the studio's shortlist of actors to star as Willy Wonka included Donald Glover, Ryan Gosling, and Ezra Miller, and it was revealed the film would serve as a prequel to the events of *Charlie and the Chocolate Factory*.

In January 2021, it was confirmed King would direct the film, now titled *Wonka*. In May, Timothée Chalamet was cast in the title role and it was announced the film would include several musical numbers. He was the director's only and first pick for the role, stating he offered the actor the part with no audition after seeing his high school YouTube performances online that proved his vocal and dancing skills. Chalamet was paid $9 million for his involvement. It was also revealed the film would be using a screenplay co-written by his *Paddington 2* (2017) collaborator Simon Farnaby; Jeff Nathanson, Simon Rich, and Simon Stephenson also provided additional literary material. Tom Holland had also been a frontrunner for the role before Chalamet was cast. 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.

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

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 8 December 2023.

## Marketing

The marketing campaign from Warner Bros. Pictures for *Wonka* began on 10 October 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 26 April 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 11 July 2023 alongside a teaser poster. The film was also promoted during the 97th Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on 23 November 2023, in the form of a float called "The Deliciously Delectable World of Wonka."

## Release

*Wonka* had special screenings at ShowEast on 24 October 2023 and at the auditorium at Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads on 19 November. On 20 November 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 28 November 2023, and was theatrically released by Warner Bros. Pictures in the United Kingdom on the 8 December 2023, followed by the United States, on 15 December 2023, in both conventional theaters and in Dolby Cinema and IMAX. It was originally set for release on 17 March 2023.

## Reception

### Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 83% of 103 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.5/10. 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 68 out of 100, based on 35 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.

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 received a mix of praise and criticism, with the latter faulting his singing voice.

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## External links

* *Wonka* at Wikipedia
* *Wonka* at IMDb