Wonka lands earlier UK release date
Wonka will now hit UK cinemas a week earlier than originally planned.
While the upcoming prequel starring Timothée Chalamet as the eccentric chocolatier was due to launch on December 15, it has now been confirmed that it will hit the big screen on December 8 in the UK. However, the December 15 date is still set to go ahead in the US.
The musical film will follow Chalamet's take on the classic Roald Dahl character and his adventures prior to the story told in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Related: Willow star criticises Hugh Grant's Wonka casting
Director Paul King recently revealed that the Dune actor has a "beautiful" singing voice, comparing him to 'White Christmas' singer Bing Crosby.
He continued: "There's quite a range, because it does go from a couple of bigger, showstopper-y sort of things, to moments of real, pure emotion and he can do it all… I'm going to sound like a crazed fan."
Oscar winner Olivia Colman, who plays one of the film's villains, also had high praise for Chalamet's performance.
"He's doing something different. It's such a treat. He's so beautiful on-screen. He's magical,"she teased last year.
Related: Wonka director reveals why Timothée Chalamet didn’t audition for role
Wonka also features Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa, with King previously joking that he cast the actor because he's the "most sarcastic shit" he knows.
"It was just going back to the books again, the way the Oompa Loompas – they sing mostly in the original book, there's not really dialogue for them – but they have these great long poems where they talk about the kids," he said.
"They're incredibly sarcastic and judgmental and cruel and very Roald Dahl-y about these kids. They really don't hold back. So it was really thinking about that character who could be a real shit and I went, 'Ah Hugh'.
"He's the funniest, most sarcastic shit that I've ever met and it was very nice to put him in the film."
Wonka arrives in UK cinemas on December 8.
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