Timothée Chalamet rejects the ‘Wonka’ Prequel. But why?

Timothée Chalamet rejects the ‘Wonka‘ Prequel. But why? – The actor feared that the prequel would be an excuse to make millions instead of an interesting creative opportunity, but the script ended up convincing him.

By Megan Sauer

As one of the most sought-after actors in recent years, Timothée Chalamet has the privilege of having greater control over his career, which is why roles have long come to him instead of him having to fight against other performers to obtain them.

For example, Denis Villeneuve thought of him while writing his adaptation of Dune, and Paul King , director of Wonka also considered it from the beginning, although the actor did not know whether or not to accept the opportunity because he believed that the project was an excuse to make easy money.

Willy Wonka and his sweet time on the big screen

Although Roald Dahl wrote many stories within various genres, his children’s stories and novels are what created his legacy around the world and, of course, opened the door to Hollywood.

Wonka poster (Source: IMDb)

In 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory was released. It was directed by Mel Stuart and although many praised Gene Wilder ‘s work as the famous chocolatier.

The author of the original work hated the final cut so much that he refused to give up the rights to the sequels so that they could not work on another film. Many do not know this reaction from Dahl, and what Wilder did made him an important icon that is still considered unsurpassed.

In 2005, Tim Burton worked on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, a new adaptation, not a remake, with Johnny Depp as Wonka, and the reactions were very mixed.

Some considered that the script was better than the original because it respected Dahl’s text, while others claimed that the director’s style, curiously, did not fit the tone of the work and the mix was somewhat strange and not very convincing.

Depp’s work also divided opinions with some saying it was too exaggerated and others saying it was a very special portrayal of the extravagant character.

Fans of the character and these performances knew that it was a matter of time before Hollywood tried to revive the chocolatier in some way, but considering the current context of the industry the doubts were clear.

For several years now, Hollywood has been filled with franchises and cinematic universes, so doing something like this with Dahl’s work was probable and when the Wonka project was announced , everyone feared the worst.

A prequel about the chocolatier seemed to be an interesting premise, but at the same time it sounded like an excuse to launch a franchise without many foundations and without a stable future.

Warner Bros. really wanted to deliver something unique so they looked for the right creatives for the task, with Simon Farnaby as screenwriter and Paul King as director to mix comedy, adventure and many inventive musical pieces that respected the essence of the character.

Timothée Chalamet had many doubts about starring in ‘Wonka’

Actors such as Donald Glover and Tom Holland were considered for the role of Wonka , but the director always took into account Chalamet, who was not interested at first.

In an interview with GamesRadar, the actor revealed that he had no desire to participate in the film until he read a specific part of the script and was convinced that it would be a great job:

“Like a lot of people, when they make remakes, I feel very protective of the original character and the versions that you love. Your eyebrows are raised in skepticism about [whether] this is a legitimate and valuable story or a cynical pursuit of money. But I was reading the first three pages of the script and the song ‘Hat Full of Dreams’ was there.

And there was no music to accompany it, but the lyrics were very clever. [It’s] about this young Willy, who is definitely not the crazy, cynical, jaded, brain-fried version we see in the previous two films, but was very hopeful, young, ambitious, unyielding, maybe a little naive. . I think that’s very clever.”

Wonka is not exactly a remake, as it shows a new story with a younger version of the protagonist, and it seems that the experiment worked well because critics are already taking it as a seasonal hit, an upcoming musical classic, and further proof of talent. by Chalamet.

Not all the reviews have been excellent, but in general it is considered that the story is very interesting, respects well the essence of Dahl and the character, and opens the doors to a sweet world of possibilities if it becomes a box office success.