Culture / Film

The new ‘Wonka’ trailer is here and it’s enough to heal your inner child

WORDS Elyssa Kostopoulos    PHOTOGRAPHY Twitter    PUBLISHED Wed, 12 Jul 2023 - 10:03 am

Timothée Chalamet Willy Wonka

Timothée Chalamet is always turbo. Between his highly-anticipated role as Paul Atreides in the remake of Frank Herbert's iconic novel, Dune and his portrayal of Bob Dylan in the upcoming biopic, Going Electric, his schedule is virtually filled to the brim. However, his forthcoming role as the titular character in Wonka has raised our eyebrows (and blood sugar). Not least because of the truly uncanny pictures surfacing of Chalamet with red hair and a plum velvet smoking jacket.

Deadline officially confirmed Chalamet would step on to play Willy Wonka back in 2021, after much deliberation on whether Chalamet or Tom Holland would be the final pick. According to reports, Warner Bros. was so set on selecting Chalamet in the end, that they actually held production to accomodate his schedule – which, as we know, is chaotic.

While you might be wondering, "why would the universe possibly need a third Willy Wonka film?", we have five words for you – Timothée Chalamet singing and dancing. It's basically the musical theatre production of our dreams. Paul King, who was the director behind Paddington, is set to film the movie based on a script by Simon Farnaby. David Heyman and Luke Kelly will serve as producers and Michael Siegel and Alexandra Derbyshire as executive producers.

After months speculating about what a Chalamet x Wonka would look like, the actor has finally shared his first shot in character to social media – and we have to admit, we would eat any and all candy that he is selling. Grab your first look, below.

 

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A post shared by Timothée Chalamet (@tchalamet)

The focus on Chalamet and previously Holland presents a very different casting narrative to that speculated when news of the film was first announced. Originally, Donald Glover, Ryan Gosling and Ezra Miller were pipped to star in the Warner Bros. adaptation, but as we now know, the three actors are no longer connected to the project. Instead, Keegan-Michael Key, Olivia Colman and Rowan Atkinson are set to join Chalamet in the film.

The motion pictures company has been working for nearly five years on their own interpretation of the 'King of Candy', which will reportedly focus on a younger version of the titular confectioner – making Chalamet a clear match.

If you were lucky enough to attend Cinemacon 2023, you will have been privy to the first footage from the film, which people on Twitter are already lamenting missing out on. Plus, juicy tidbits of Chalamet swimming in an actual chocolate river and getting stomach aches on set from eating too much candy is exactly the kind of gossip our simple brains thrive on. Oh, and apparently Hugh Grant will star as an oompa loompa?

Release date

I guess we'll just have to wait until later this year, with Wonka set to premiere on December 15, just in time for the holidays.

Wonka trailer

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Image: Twitter

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