Timothée Chalamet Will Play Willy Wonka in ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ Prequel Movie

Timothée Chalamet is following in the lead of The Wizard of Oz treatment with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by playing Willy Wonka in a prequel movie. The star, who rose to fame in 2017 by appearing in Call Me By Your Name and Lady Bird, has signed on to his latest project that will have him playing yet another Johnny Depp role. The younger actor most recently was in a Super Bowl commercial, playing Edward Scissorhands’ son, after Depp originated the role in the 1990 film. Here’s all the information about Chalamet’s newest project.

There have been 2 ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ movies before

Before the upcoming prequel, there have been other iterations of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The first was in 1971, with Gene Wilder as the chocolatier. Roald Dahl, the original novel’s author, wrote the screenplay for the film.

The second version of the movie came in 2005 with Depp playing the major role. John August wrote the screenplay for that iteration, with Tim Burton directing. Actors such as Freddie Highmore, Helena Bonham Carter, and AnnaSophia Robb were in the movie.

Timothée Chalamet will play Willy Wonka in prequel movie

Chalamet will star as Willy Wonka in the newest iteration of the story, called Wonka.

“Based on characters created by Roald Dahl, the story will focus on a young Willy Wonka and his adventures prior to opening the world’s most famous chocolate factory,” per Deadline. “Sources also tell Deadline that Wonka will mark the first time Chalamet gets to show off his singing and dancing skills with several musical numbers set to appear in the film.”

“He’s been the top choice for some time but scheduling was a hurdle that had to be overcome as training for those numbers is included in the prep for this film,” Deadline reported.

The outlet concluded: “Paul King will direct from the screenplay he wrote with Simon Farnaby (with prior writers including Simon Rich, Simon Stephenson, Jeff Nathanson and Steven Levenson). David Heyman is producing via his Heyday Films. Luke Kelly is also producing, with Michael Siegel and Alexandra Derbyshire executive producing.”

Here are other movies that Timothée Chalamet has been in

In addition to his 2017 films that launched him into wider fame, Chalamet had other roles before that, as well.

The actor played Tom at 15 years old in the 2014 space flick Interstellar. He also portrayed Finn Walden in Homeland in 2012 for several episodes.

After Call Me by Your Name and Lady Bird, Chalamet starred in Beautiful Boy in 2018 and Little Women in 2019, working with director Greta Gerwig again.

His films Dune, The French Dispatch, and Don’t Look Up are all done filming and set for a 2021 release, per IMDb. Wonka is currently in pre-production.

At the end of 2020, Chalamet wrapped up the year by guest-hosting on Saturday Night Live. A rap he did with Pete Davidson went viral, which was part of the sketch Rap Roundtable.