Posted in: Movies, Warner Bros | Tagged: paul king, Timothee Chalamet, warner bros discovery, Wonka

Wonka: Paul King Says That Timothée Chalamet Can "Really Do It All"

Wonka director Paul King says that Timothée Chalamet "can really do it all." The film will be released on December 15th.

The early reactions are coming in for Wonka, and everything is shaping up pretty positively. Of the three movies Warner Bros. Discovery has coming out next month, this seemed like the wildcard, but the more positive press this gets, the more people seem interested in seeing it. Your guess is still as good as anyone else's as to who will come out on top box office-wise when December comes to a close. Still, it sounds like, critically, Warner Bros. Discovery could be working on two out of three winners so far [early reactions to The Color Purple are even more positive]. If there was any reason to have hope in this movie from day one, it was director Paul King and the joy he brought us with the Paddington movies. For King, he knew pretty early on that he wanted Timothée Chalamet in the leading role and revealed to SFX Magazine (via Total Film) that he was picturing Chalamet in his head before the script was even completed. 

"There's little moments where we want to go: this is like a companion piece. "We can just about see how this person grows into an older Gene Wilder," King explains. "But equally, I think Timmy is such an original thinker and an actor himself, in a way, you have to let that go and build your own thing. And luckily, he's a bit of a genius. So he built something rather special. Then, in everything I saw him in after [Call Me By Your Name], I just thought he was so extraordinary. By the time we drafted the script together, it had really just become him in my head. He's so funny in Lady Bird. He's also very good at being a stupid character as that sort of ridiculous fool. But he's also completely emotionally present. He can really do it all."

There are some real benefits to having a specific actor in mind when writing a role, which doubles when you can sign on that person early. It means you can tweak the script and anything else to meet the strengths and weaknesses that your lead might have. It sounds like King is pretty enamored with Chalamet and doesn't think he has many flaws, but writing a part with a specific actor in mind is always interesting when the final film comes out.

Wonka: Summary, Cast List, Release Date

Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Roald Dahl's most iconic children's book and one of the best-selling children's books of all time, Wonka tells the wondrous story of how the world's greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.

From Paul King, writer/director of the Paddington films, David Heyman, producer of Harry Potter, Gravity, Fantastic Beasts and Paddington, and producers Alexandra Derbyshire (the Paddington films, Jurassic World: Dominion) and Luke Kelly (Roald Dahl's The Witches), comes an intoxicating mix of magic and music, mayhem and emotion, all told with fabulous heart and humor. Starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role, this irresistibly vivid and inventive big-screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, chock-full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time—proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you're lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible.

Starring alongside Chalamet are Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come), Emmy and Peabody Award winner Keegan-Michael Key (The Prom, Schmigadoon), Paterson Joseph (Vigil, Noughts + Crosses), Matt Lucas (Paddington, Little Britain), Mathew Baynton (The Wrong Mans, Ghosts), Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water, the Paddington films, Spencer), Rowan Atkinson (the Johnny English and Mr. Bean films, Love Actually), Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), with Oscar winner Olivia Colman (The Favourite). The film also stars Natasha Rothwell (White Lotus, Insecure), Rich Fulcher (Marriage Story, Disenchantment), Rakhee Thakrar (Sex Education, Four Weddings and a Funeral), Tom Davis (Paddington 2, King Gary) and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Paddington 2, Zack Snyder's Justice League, Mary Poppins Returns).

Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, in Association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Heyday Films Production, a Paul King Confection, Wonka, set to open in theaters and in IMAX internationally beginning in December 2023 and in North America on December 15, 2023; it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.

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