Timothee Chalamet Is Willy Wonka in First Look at New Reboot

By Daniel S. Levine

Filming is underway for Warner Bros.' Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory prequel, Wonka. On Sunday, star Timothee Chalamet tweeted a photo of himself in fully Willy Wonka gear, complete with a velvet jacket and a top hat. The new movie is directed by Paul King, who helmed the two acclaimed Paddington movies. Wonka hits theaters on March 17, 2023.

Chalamet posted the photo with just a caption including the film's title. The photo shows him standing behind a camera, while snowflakes fly in the air. The Dune actor's top hat looks like it was made from chocolate itself. Wonka's script was written by King with his Paddington collaborator Simon Farnaby, who also has a role in the film.

The new photo surfaced after the full Wonka cast was announced last week. The film will also star Keegan-Michael Key, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, Jim Carter, Mathew Baynton, Tom Davis, Rich Fulcher, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Paterson Joseph, Calah Lane, Matt Lucas, Colin O'Brien, Natasha Rothwell, Rakhee Thakrar, and Ellie White. David Heyman, Luke Kelly and Alexandra Derbyshire are the film's producers.

Wonka is set to tell the story of a young Willy Wonka before he opened his world-famous chocolate factory. Roald Dahl created the character for his 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was followed by the 1972 sequel Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. Chalamet is the third actor to play the eccentric chocolatier, following Gene Wilder in the 1971 musical Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Johnny Depp in Tim Burton's 2005 adaptation of the novel.

Last month, Netflix confirmed it bought the Roald Dahl Story Company (RDSC), building on a previous agreement to develop animated shows based on the author's works. One of the first projects will be an event series based on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory from Taika Waititi. Netflix hasn't set a release date for the series and casting has not been announced yet. The streamer is also working on a new film adaptation of Matilda that uses the acclaimed Broadway musical as a basis.

Chalamet, 25, has an Oscar nomination on his resume for Call Me By Your Name. This year, he stars in Wes Anderson's The French Dispatch, Denis Villeneuve's adaptation of Dune and Adam McKay's Don't Look Up. He recently reunited with Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino for the upcoming horror film Bones & All.

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