The bad news remains: filmmaker Paul King is currently not coming back to direct a third Paddington movie. The good news is, things seem to be moving forward on his next project – for years he’s been linked to a Willy Wonka prequel movie, and now it’s finally found its central chocolatier. According to Deadline, none other than Timothée Chalamet will play a younger incarnation of the chocolate factory owner in the simply-titled Wonka.
Rather than retelling the Charlie And The Chocolate Factory story once again, Wonka will focus on the young Willy Wonka before he opened his sugary death-trap – and the Deadline report indicates that it’ll be somewhat of a musical too, featuring Chalamet in a series of song-and-dance numbers. It will mark the actor’s next foray into blockbuster franchise territory, after playing the lead role of Paul Atreides in Denis Villeneuve’s upcoming Dune adaptation. King has co-written the screenplay with his Paddington 2 writing partner Simon Farnaby – here’s hoping they have a fun take on the iconic character, who was memorably played by Gene Wilder in 1971, and was portrayed in Tim Burton’s less-fondly-remembered 2005 incarnation by Johnny Depp.
Disappointing as it is that King isn’t heading back for another marmalade sandwich, expect a similarly sweet treat from Wonka as he re-teams with producer David Heyman (also behind the Harry Potter movies) – and stay tuned for more news on the movie as it barrels towards production.