Hugh Grant's Oompa Loompa Revealed in First 'Wonka' Photos

Hugh Grant brought the classic Oompa Loompa character to life for the forthcoming Wonka film. The highly anticipated trailer was and the poster was released on July 11. Wonka chronicles the eccentric chocolatier before opening the world's most famous chocolate factory. The movie tells the untold backstory of Willie Wonka. It's inspired by the 1964 children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl. The film will be released on December 15 just in time for Christmas. 

Timothée Chalamet stars as Wonka in the musical. The late Gene Wilder played the role in the 1971 musical version, Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.  Johnny Depp played the character 30 years later. 

Paul King, the film's director, told Rolling Stone how excited he is for fans to see Grant in the role. "He's the funniest person I know," King says. "It was a very happy moment when you go, 'Oh, I think your voice can sit with this judgmental, sarcastic, mean-spirited character.' The gleeful, mischievous delight the Oompa Loompas take in the demise of those kids is so funny. When you read the poems they are so cruel and kind of acerbic. Trying to write down character traits and find their voice outside the songs, I realized, 'That's what Hugh sounds like. Hugh is an Oompa Loompa.'"

He added: "He wears a series of ridiculous outfits in the film. I think it works so brilliantly. There's always things where when you're making anything where you go, 'OK, I think that's good, I think that's good — that's just right! If no one likes that I don't care.' I have 100 percent confidence in Hugh with green hair."

Wonka was written by Simon Rich. The movie also stars Keegan-Michael Key, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, Jim Carter and Matt Lucas, as well as Sally Hawkins as Wonka's mother.