Timothee Chalamet To Tempt Kids With Candy In ‘Wonka’ Prequel From ‘Paddington’ Director

From Dune to the Chocolate Factory. Deadline reports Timothee Chalamet is set to star in Wonka, the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel film in the works at Warner Bros.

You may recall Chalamet was on the shortlist for Wonka back in January, which is also when we learned it had been set for a March 2023 release date. Also on that list were Tom Holland, Donald Glover, Ryan Gosling, and Ezra Miller, to get an idea how varied the casting has been for this. The role will require Chalamet to show off his singing and dancing chops, too, presumably because this younger version of Wonka will be putting to song his love of tempting children with candy and forcing orange-faced natives to work for him.

Behind the camera is Paul King, who directed the beloved Paddington movies so you know this is going to be more of a kind-hearted effort than the Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory movie, or the creepy 2005 film with Johnny Depp.