Timothée Chalamet is set to show off his singing and dancing skills as a young Willy Wonka in an upcoming prequel film from Warner Bros, according to Variety. Simply titled Wonka, it is set to hit theaters on March 17th, 2023.
Wonka will be directed by Paul King (Paddington and Paddington 2), who wrote the screenplay with Simon Farnaby. The project is led by Harry Potter producer David Heyman, who has been trying to get it off the ground since 2016.
Plot details are scarce, aside from the film centering around the titular character’s adventures before opening the world’s most famous chocolate factory. But Deadline reports that the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel will include several musical numbers.
Although Chalamet has been the top choice for some time, Tom Holland, Ryan Gosling, Donald Glover, and Ezra Miller all saw consideration for the role in the past.
Roald Dahl’s classic 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has been adapted by Warner Bros. twice before. 1971’s Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory starred Gene Wilder while Tim Burton’s 2005 film, Charlie & the Chocolate Factory, featured Johnny Depp. In his final interview, Wilder called the latter version “an insult.”
Chalamet is next set to appear in Denis Villeneuve’s highly anticipated Dune adaptation, which has been delayed to October 2021. He is also part of an ensemble cast in Wes Anderson’s The French Dispatch, due out later this year.
