Chicago – Patrick McDonald of HollywoodChicago.com appears on “The Morning Mess” with Scott Thompson on Wbgr-fm on January 4th, 2024, comparing “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) with “Wonka” (2023), which is currently in theaters.
Rating: 5.0/5.0
In the 1971 “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” young Charlie (Peter Ostrum) must find a golden ticket to take a tour of the reclusive Willy Wonka’s (Gene Wilder) magical chocolate factory. As the world searches for the tickets, five kids get lucky through various means. But when one ticket turns out to be fraudulent, Charlie opens a chocolate bar he possesses to reveal that he has found the last elusive gold. He and his grandfather (Jack Albertson) are about to take the tour of a lifetime.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
In 2023, Timothée Chalamet takes on the Willy role in ‘Wonka.’ In this prequel to the story above, Willy Wonka comes to London after traveling the world to create his brand of chocolate magic.
Rating: 5.0/5.0
In the 1971 “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” young Charlie (Peter Ostrum) must find a golden ticket to take a tour of the reclusive Willy Wonka’s (Gene Wilder) magical chocolate factory. As the world searches for the tickets, five kids get lucky through various means. But when one ticket turns out to be fraudulent, Charlie opens a chocolate bar he possesses to reveal that he has found the last elusive gold. He and his grandfather (Jack Albertson) are about to take the tour of a lifetime.
Rating: 3.5/5.0
In 2023, Timothée Chalamet takes on the Willy role in ‘Wonka.’ In this prequel to the story above, Willy Wonka comes to London after traveling the world to create his brand of chocolate magic.
- 1/6/2024
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Paul King gave Timothee Chalamet a very “expensive” hug after he shot his final scene for ‘Wonka’.The 45-year-old filmmaker had worn “nice clothes” to mark the last day of filming on the movie, but the scene in question saw the 27-year-old actor and his co-star Calah Lane (Noodle) trapped in a vat of chocolate, which even left the director in a sticky mess.He told SFX magazine: That was the last scene we filmed with them.“Even though I’d put on nice clothes for our last day, I gave them a big hug. And I regretted it because I got chocolate all over my very nice shoes. So it was an expensive choice.“But I felt that the hug was worth it.“But yes, the last shot was them swirling around in this chocolate – and very tasty it was too.”Paul admitted he had no idea how the...
- 12/27/2023
- by Viki Waters
- Bang Showbiz
Timothée Chalamet was "very fun" on the set of 'Wonka'.The 27-year-old actor plays Willy Wonka in Paul King's movie about the Roald Dahl character's early years and Calah Lane, 14 - who portrays Noodle, a hard-working but underprivileged orphan - revealed the pair had a lot of fun on set.She told The Hollywood Reporter: "Sometimes it’s hard for me to get into character. When I watched him on set, I was like, ‘Wow, he can do this really, really, really good.’ And I kind of learned from that. But he’s very fun on set."I taught him the ‘Thriller’ dance. I’m the No. 1 fan of Michael Jackson. I know everything.”Calah also revealed the pair ended up consuming a lot of chocolate during filming. She explained: "I ate so much chocolate because we would do take after take after take. It wasn’t bad chocolate,...
- 12/17/2023
- by Colette Fahy 2
- Bang Showbiz
‘Wonka’ Star Calah Lane on Swimming in Chocolate With Timothée Chalamet and Teaching Him Dance Moves
Calah Lane is relishing her life of pure imagination after starring alongside Timothée Chalamet in Warner Bros.’ anticipated holiday release Wonka.
The musical, which hit theaters Friday, features the 14-year-old actress as Noodle, a hard-working but underprivileged orphan who has never tasted chocolate until she ends up in the same boarding facility as Chalamet’s dessert-adoring Willy Wonka. Depicting the early years of the character who originated in Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, director Paul King’s movie also stars Hugh Grant, Olivia Colman and Keegan-Michael Key.
Lane, who earned a Critics Choice nomination for her breakout role, grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, and first showed an interest in performing when her mother filmed her belting out a Michael Jackson hit at age 2. After that, she landed a supporting part in a production of Annie at age 4 and later appeared on Kidding, Hollywood, This Is Us and Family Reunion,...
The musical, which hit theaters Friday, features the 14-year-old actress as Noodle, a hard-working but underprivileged orphan who has never tasted chocolate until she ends up in the same boarding facility as Chalamet’s dessert-adoring Willy Wonka. Depicting the early years of the character who originated in Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, director Paul King’s movie also stars Hugh Grant, Olivia Colman and Keegan-Michael Key.
Lane, who earned a Critics Choice nomination for her breakout role, grew up in Fort Worth, Texas, and first showed an interest in performing when her mother filmed her belting out a Michael Jackson hit at age 2. After that, she landed a supporting part in a production of Annie at age 4 and later appeared on Kidding, Hollywood, This Is Us and Family Reunion,...
- 12/16/2023
- by Ryan Gajewski
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Four-time Academy Award nominee Nathan Crowley grew up in England with his mother reading Roald Dahl stories to him. So he reached a full circle moment when, decades later, he was asked to serve as the production designer on Paul King’s “Wonka,” which offers a heartwarming origin story for Dahl’s iconic chocolatier.
“Obviously, the film when I was a young kid was unbelievable — Gene Wilder!” Crowley tells Variety. “How old was I, seven? It was just magic. It was part of my youth. So to get to do a ‘Wonka’ film, why wouldn’t you do that?”
In “Wonka,” the eccentric candymaker is not yet the jaded success story audiences know from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” in which he teaches brutal lessons to spoiled children. Willy (Timothée Chalamet) is just starting his career and has the singular goal of realizing his childhood dream of making and sharing...
“Obviously, the film when I was a young kid was unbelievable — Gene Wilder!” Crowley tells Variety. “How old was I, seven? It was just magic. It was part of my youth. So to get to do a ‘Wonka’ film, why wouldn’t you do that?”
In “Wonka,” the eccentric candymaker is not yet the jaded success story audiences know from “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” in which he teaches brutal lessons to spoiled children. Willy (Timothée Chalamet) is just starting his career and has the singular goal of realizing his childhood dream of making and sharing...
- 12/16/2023
- by Jaden Thompson
- Variety Film + TV
This post contains minor spoilers for "Wonka."
When Warner Bros. announced that they were going to make a prequel to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" focused on a young Willy Wonka, it felt like all of Hollywood's worst sensibilities wrapped in one neat little package. A seemingly unnecessary prequel driven by commercialism with a hip star -- in this case
Timothée Chalamet -- anchoring the whole thing to try and sell it to the masses. Yet, when "Paddington" director Paul King signed on to helm the project, it raised some eyebrows. Could the man beyond two of the most inescapably charming movies of the last decade work his magic here as well? The answer is largely yes. We're not here to discuss whether "Wonka" is as good as "Paddington" or anything like that, but it is worth pointing out that these movies do have a key element in common.
Both...
When Warner Bros. announced that they were going to make a prequel to "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" focused on a young Willy Wonka, it felt like all of Hollywood's worst sensibilities wrapped in one neat little package. A seemingly unnecessary prequel driven by commercialism with a hip star -- in this case
Timothée Chalamet -- anchoring the whole thing to try and sell it to the masses. Yet, when "Paddington" director Paul King signed on to helm the project, it raised some eyebrows. Could the man beyond two of the most inescapably charming movies of the last decade work his magic here as well? The answer is largely yes. We're not here to discuss whether "Wonka" is as good as "Paddington" or anything like that, but it is worth pointing out that these movies do have a key element in common.
Both...
- 12/15/2023
- by Ryan Scott
- Slash Film
[Editor’s note: The following article contains spoilers for “Wonka.”]
Everyone is losing their minds, and we can be silent no longer.
A few weeks ago, we saw a press screening of the new Timothée Chalamet-starring Willy Wonka prequel movie directed by Paul King. Timmy is doing his best, but for a work that is presumably suppose to be a light confection kids of all ages can enjoy we have…notes. There are so many straight up bizarre choices made over the course of its 116-minute running time. Phoning it in and cashing the checks this is not, but that doesn’t quite clarify some of the odder inclusions and subplots of this particular prequel.
What if, right now, we told you the perils of illiteracy are a recurring theme in the origin story of the famed chocolatier? What if we swore on all things sweet that you will learn absolutely nothing about the potentially magical elements of this fairy tale?...
Everyone is losing their minds, and we can be silent no longer.
A few weeks ago, we saw a press screening of the new Timothée Chalamet-starring Willy Wonka prequel movie directed by Paul King. Timmy is doing his best, but for a work that is presumably suppose to be a light confection kids of all ages can enjoy we have…notes. There are so many straight up bizarre choices made over the course of its 116-minute running time. Phoning it in and cashing the checks this is not, but that doesn’t quite clarify some of the odder inclusions and subplots of this particular prequel.
What if, right now, we told you the perils of illiteracy are a recurring theme in the origin story of the famed chocolatier? What if we swore on all things sweet that you will learn absolutely nothing about the potentially magical elements of this fairy tale?...
- 12/15/2023
- by Kate Erbland and Erin Strecker
- Indiewire
Plot: The origins of young Willy Wonka (Timothée Chalamet), who arrives in a city known for its chocolate with the dream of becoming a master chocolatier.
Review: I’ll admit something – I wasn’t all that keen on watching Wonka. While I have a soft spot for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, mainly due to Gene Wilder’s terrific performance in the lead, an origin story starring Timothee Chalamet seemed a touch too whimsical. Yet, the film inarguably has an ace up its sleeve in director Paul King, who proved with the first two Paddington films that he’s a master of so-called whimsy.
The film, which is a full-blown musical, really does cast a spell thanks mainly to the fact that Chalamet hits precisely the right note with his Willy Wonka. He’s doing Gene Wilder here, with no trace of Johnny Depp’s performance from the Tim Burton...
Review: I’ll admit something – I wasn’t all that keen on watching Wonka. While I have a soft spot for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, mainly due to Gene Wilder’s terrific performance in the lead, an origin story starring Timothee Chalamet seemed a touch too whimsical. Yet, the film inarguably has an ace up its sleeve in director Paul King, who proved with the first two Paddington films that he’s a master of so-called whimsy.
The film, which is a full-blown musical, really does cast a spell thanks mainly to the fact that Chalamet hits precisely the right note with his Willy Wonka. He’s doing Gene Wilder here, with no trace of Johnny Depp’s performance from the Tim Burton...
- 12/15/2023
- by Chris Bumbray
- JoBlo.com
This article contains plenty of Wonka spoilers (plus more from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory!).
There’s just something about the sight of a man in a plush plum coat dancing with a green-haired Oompa Loompa that is irresistible. Try as you might not to give in, even the dastardly chocolate cartel would smile if they saw the final scene of Wonka, which features Timothée Chalamet’s Willy tripping the light fantastic with a miniature Hugh Grant. Together, the pair are poised to build what will become Willy Wonka’s fabled chocolate factory. A place of pure imagination, as the song goes.
Laugh it up though Willy, your chocolate utopia is about to be smashed into a million shards.
Wonka director Paul King is clear that he wanted to be both faithful to Roald Dahl’s novel, but also to serve as a prequel to Gene Wilder’s Willy...
There’s just something about the sight of a man in a plush plum coat dancing with a green-haired Oompa Loompa that is irresistible. Try as you might not to give in, even the dastardly chocolate cartel would smile if they saw the final scene of Wonka, which features Timothée Chalamet’s Willy tripping the light fantastic with a miniature Hugh Grant. Together, the pair are poised to build what will become Willy Wonka’s fabled chocolate factory. A place of pure imagination, as the song goes.
Laugh it up though Willy, your chocolate utopia is about to be smashed into a million shards.
Wonka director Paul King is clear that he wanted to be both faithful to Roald Dahl’s novel, but also to serve as a prequel to Gene Wilder’s Willy...
- 12/15/2023
- by David Crow
- Den of Geek
No one really asked for a prequel to "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" that focused on the origin of a future psychotic child murderer -- especially if it meant losing a third Paul King "Paddington" movie. Even fewer people could have predicted that "Wonka" would end up being a pretty great film. As our own Ethan Anderton wrote in this review, the film has a "well-thought-out story that doesn't even lean heavily on nostalgia or cheeky references to the classic film adaptation."
Indeed, the film is a riot. Paul King delivers a whimsical, colorful holiday film for the whole family that features a fantastic ensemble that steals every scene they're in, and there's a sense of whimsy that is reminiscent of King's "Paddington" movies. Timothée Chalamet finds the right balance between homaging Gene Wilder and doing his own weird little chocolate-loving psycho. There are even hints of some of...
Indeed, the film is a riot. Paul King delivers a whimsical, colorful holiday film for the whole family that features a fantastic ensemble that steals every scene they're in, and there's a sense of whimsy that is reminiscent of King's "Paddington" movies. Timothée Chalamet finds the right balance between homaging Gene Wilder and doing his own weird little chocolate-loving psycho. There are even hints of some of...
- 12/14/2023
- by Rafael Motamayor
- Slash Film
They were all young once: Don Corleone and Darth Vader, Butch and Sundance, Hannibal and Leatherface, Maleficent and Cruella. And long before he was the world’s best-known chocolatier and distributor of life-changing golden tickets, William “Willy” Wonka was just a twentysomething kid with a top hat, a sweet tooth, and a dream.
For decades, we could only guess how the bright-eyed lad became the candymaker-in-chief. This is where Wonka comes in. A prequel that seeks to both fill in the blanks regarding Roald Dahl’s eccentric sugar pimp and...
For decades, we could only guess how the bright-eyed lad became the candymaker-in-chief. This is where Wonka comes in. A prequel that seeks to both fill in the blanks regarding Roald Dahl’s eccentric sugar pimp and...
- 12/14/2023
- by David Fear
- Rollingstone.com
Calah Lane as Noodle and TIMOTHÉE Chalamet as Willy Wonka in ‘Wonka (Photo © 2023 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc)
The joyous strains of “Pure Imagination” lead into an equally joyous celebration of life – and chocolate – in Warner Bros Pictures’ Wonka. Movie fans could have had a one-two Timothée Chalamet punch if Dune 2 hadn’t been pulled from the theatrical release calendar. But for now, Chalamaniacs will have to settle for seeing the ever-charming actor light up the screen in the prequel to 1971’s Willa Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
Chalamet is no Gene Wilder, but then again, no one can fill Wilder’s shoes. Not even Johnny Depp came close in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Still, comparisons aside, Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name) proved to be an excellent choice to play the overly optimistic chocolatier with huge dreams and an even bigger heart.
The film opens...
The joyous strains of “Pure Imagination” lead into an equally joyous celebration of life – and chocolate – in Warner Bros Pictures’ Wonka. Movie fans could have had a one-two Timothée Chalamet punch if Dune 2 hadn’t been pulled from the theatrical release calendar. But for now, Chalamaniacs will have to settle for seeing the ever-charming actor light up the screen in the prequel to 1971’s Willa Wonka & The Chocolate Factory.
Chalamet is no Gene Wilder, but then again, no one can fill Wilder’s shoes. Not even Johnny Depp came close in 2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Still, comparisons aside, Oscar nominee Timothée Chalamet (Call Me by Your Name) proved to be an excellent choice to play the overly optimistic chocolatier with huge dreams and an even bigger heart.
The film opens...
- 12/10/2023
- by Rebecca Murray
- Showbiz Junkies
Every fan of “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory” (1971) loves the scene where Gene Wilder, as the mystical candy maker, takes his guests on a psychedelic tunnel ride, zooming through the bowels of the Chocolate Factory as he chants a little verse, getting angrier and more hysterical by the second. Wilder’s Wonka was a sweetheart, but he had a hidden maniacal side. And in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory,” Tim Burton’s majestically wacked 2005 remake, Johnny Depp, then at the apex of his movie stardom, went full Depp, playing Wonka like some louche vampiristic cross between Anna Wintour and Michael Jackson.
But in “Wonka,” the fun, rousing, impeccably staged, jaw-droppingly old-fashioned musical prequel to the legendary Roald Dahl tale, Timothée Chalamet plays the title character as the beaming soul of effervescent goodness. His chocolate passion is there (he’s all but defined by it), but the kinks are gone...
But in “Wonka,” the fun, rousing, impeccably staged, jaw-droppingly old-fashioned musical prequel to the legendary Roald Dahl tale, Timothée Chalamet plays the title character as the beaming soul of effervescent goodness. His chocolate passion is there (he’s all but defined by it), but the kinks are gone...
- 12/4/2023
- by Owen Gleiberman
- Variety Film + TV
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