Warner Bros. is in final negotiations withPaddington 2directorPaul King, to take the helm on a newWilly Wonkamovie. Back in October 2016, the studio had acquired the rights to the franchise setting Simon Rich (The Secret Life of Pets) to write the screenplay for the movie, which was said to be a prequel following Willy Wonka’s “early adventures.” While this new report doesn’t make any mention of this project being a “prequel,” only stating that it’s a “reimagining of Roald Dahl’s classic children’s bookCharlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Simon Rich is mentioned as the screenwriter, along with producer David Heyman, who was mentioned in the original story from 2016, so it seems like it is the same project.
The original report from October 2016 revealed that Warner Bros. spent most of that year trying to acquire thefranchise rightsfrom the estate of late author Roald Dahl, with David Heyman and Michael Siegel, the manager of the Dahl Estate, both set to produce. In November 2016, David Heyman revealed in an interview that the project is, “possibly anorigin story”, but at the time of that interview, it was still very early on in the development stages and he was still working with writer Simon Rich on the story.
The last we heard about this project was back in July, when Ryan Reynolds mentioned in an interview that he wanted toplay the title characterinWilly Wonka. While it would most certainly be quite the interesting role for the 37-year-old actor, there is no indication yet how young, or old, this version of Willy Wonka will be. The iconic character was originated on the big screen by Gene Wilder in 1971’sWilly Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, with Johnny Depp portraying the candy maker in 2005’sCharlie and the Chocolate Factory, which was a more faithful adaptation of theoriginal Roald Dahl bookof the same name. David Heyman stated in the November 2016 interview that they weren’t planning on using the booksCharlie and the Chocolate FactoryorCharlie and the Great Glass Elevatorfor this new story.
Warner Bros. also released the 2016 Roald Dahl adaptationThe BFG, directed by Steven Spielberg, and they’re currently developing yet another Dahl adaptation,The Witches, which Guillermo del Toro has had in development for more than a decade, and is now attracting attention of directors, with Robert Zemeckis said to have met on the project. The studio hopes that this new rendition ofWilly Wonkacould start a new movie franchise for the studio. Since this new story won’t follow the books, it remains to be seen if this story will include the Oompa-Loompas, who Wonka saved from Loompaland before they helped run his candy factory.
Paul King started his directorial career on the hit British TV showThe Mighty Boosh, which he directed 20 episodes of between 2004 and 2007. He made his feature directorial debut in 2009 withThe Bunny and the Bull, and he would go on to directThe Mighty Boosh Live: Future Sailors Tourin 2009, along with six episodes ofCome Fly with Meand two episodes ofLittle Crackersbefore directingPaddingtonin 2014, which made $76.2 million domestically and $268 million worldwide, from a $55 million budget. The director came back to makePaddington 2, which debuted in U.S. theaters last month, earning $38.5 million thus far, plus $167.1 million overseas for a current worldwide tally of $205.6 million, from an undisclosed production budget.The Hollywood Reporterbroke the news on Paul King directingWilly Wonkaearlier today.
