Trailer
Plot summary
Willy Wonka, a young chocolatier, wants a chocolate shop of his own in the Galéries Gourmet. Bleacher, Mrs. Scrubitt's co-worker, talks him into a room at her boarding house, and because he cannot read Wonka signs a contract with exorbitant fees. When he sells sweets without a shop, Officer Affable confiscates his earnings at the request of Arthur Slugworth, Gerald Prodnose and Felix Fickelgruber. With the debt unpaid, Wonka works in Scrubitt's launderette beside Noodle, Abacus Crunch, Piper Benz, Larry Chucklesworth and Lottie Bell. Noodle offers to teach him to read, and the Chocolate Cartel bribes the Chief of Police to torment him.
Cast
Did you know?!Facts and trivia about Wonka (2023)
Can contain spoilers, watch the movie first.
- Paul King cast Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka without an audition, after watching the actor's high school performances on YouTube proved his singing and dancing skills. King had already been impressed by Chalamet in Call Me by Your Name and Lady Bird.
- Wonka was the first film about Willy Wonka that did not feature the Oompa-Loompas portrayed by dwarf actors, unlike the 1971 and 2005 versions.
- The first look at Hugh Grant as the Oompa-Loompa Lofty in the Wonka teaser trailer caused criticism from actors with dwarfism, including Jason Acuña, who said Grant was "now identifying as a little person".
- While researching Roald Dahl's archives and unpublished material, Paul King found that Dahl had been interested in exploring Willy Wonka's backstory but had never gone far with it.
- Tom Holland was a frontrunner for the title role alongside Timothée Chalamet after Paul King joined Wonka, while Donald Glover, Ryan Gosling and Ezra Miller had previously been considered.
- Wonka debuted with $39 million, becoming the first live-action musical to top the box office in the post-COVID pandemic era.
