Wonka: First trailer introduces Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka

Fantasy film Wonka is a prequel to Roald Dahl’s classic story, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the 2005 adaptation of the same name, allowing fans to explore the earlier years of this eccentric chocolatier. Directed by Paddington’s Paul King, the screenplay is a collaboration between him and Simon Farnaby, who illuminate this new tale with a brilliant cast of well-known faces from the industry and a sparkling imagination for storytelling.

The Upcoming had the pleasure of being invited to the Ham Yard Hotel in London for an exclusive look at the new trailer for the film, which drops in December later this year. The launch event included a beautiful afternoon tea of delicate savoury bites, like vegan polenta billions, alongside gold “W” initialled macaroons and retro bottles of chocolate milk served with a straw. The room dazzled with rows of bell jars brimming with sweet treats, a six-tiered chocolate fountain ready for dipping strawberries, and marshmallows and jars filled with gobstoppers, fudge and rainbow sherbet pips.

Amongst the beautiful childlike setting, we had the opportunity to watch the new trailer featuring a first look at Timothée Chalamet in the lead role as Wonka, and an all-star cast including Hugh Grant as an Oopma Loompa. We also heard from the director as he discussed the journey to making this film, his love of creating these worlds and smearing Chamalet in chocolate sauce.

“Roald Dahl meant a huge amount to me growing up and the books were deeply loved,” King explained. “I got to spend a little bit of time with his archive, and almost all his early drafts of the book and sort of different ideas he’d had.”

He also discussed the idea of bringing Wonka to the forefront of this feature: “It seemed really interesting to dive a little deeper into him and, and try and come up with something that perhaps Roald Dahl might have approved of, if he’d ever tried to write a prequel.”

King further shared that putting Chamalet in as his lead was a no-brainer given, “He’s an incredibly special talent. He’s very charming and perfectly adequately easy on the eye… I mean, he’s following in some extraordinarily big shoes with the people who played the character before. And I think he more than lives up to them… and I don’t know [about everyone] but covering Timothée Chalamet in chocolate would be some people’s highlight!”

Check out the brand-new Wonka trailer below:

Ezelle Alblas

Wonka is released nationwide on 15^th December 2023.