'Wonka' director avoided Gene Wilder film reinvention

Timothée Chalamet's Wonka is here with all the sparkles and tons of chocolate.

But Paul King, the movie's director, was careful not to reinvent the original flick: the beloved 1971's Gene Wilder Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

During an interview with Entertainment Weekly, the filmmaker said, "I didn't want to reinvent those things 'cause it felt like that '71 movie had come up with these incredibly enduring, iconic looks."

Adding, "What I wanted this movie to be was like a companion piece to that movie. If you imagine those people in that world 25 years earlier, that was my starting process. Eventually, he would grow into that person and that factory."

The story is based on fan-favorite Dahl's 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

"('Wonka') tells the wild and wonderful story of Willy Wonka... what chocolate means to him and why he's so driven to become this extraordinary chocolate maker," King explained amid the trailer screening, adding he aimed to stick with Dahl's story when he penned the script.

"(He) is a very interesting, beguiling character and it seemed really interesting to dive a little deeper into him and try and come up with something that perhaps Roald Dahl might have approved of if he'd ever tried to write a prequel."

Wonka will land in theatres on 15 December 2023.