What you need to know about Wonka

Fans of the Roald Dahl classic Charlie and the Chocolate Factory will be wanting to grab their golden tickets once more with the streaming release of Warner Bros. blockbuster Wonka.

Following in the footsteps of the 1971 classic Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and the 2005 adaptation with the same name as the novel, the new film explores the early years of the eccentric chocolatier.

The prequel has been a long time coming. Warner Bros. first acquired the rights to Willy Wonka himself back in 2016, with initial production negotiations beginning in 2018. As it arrives on streaming platforms, here’s everything you need to know about Wonka.

How can I watch Wonka?

Wonka is available to buy and rent on streaming services such as Prime Video, Apple TV and Sky Store, follow its digital release on 22 January. It landed in UK cinemas in December 2023, just in time for Christmas, having been pushed back from its original March 2023 release date.

Wonka acts as a prequel to the original 1964 novel, following a younger version of Willy Wonka in the days before he set up his infamous chocolate factory.

According to the film’s official synopsis, it introduces “a young Willy Wonka, chock-full of ideas and determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time — proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible.”

What do film critics think of Wonka?

Reviews for Wonka are largely positive, with the film currently enjoying an 82% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes from 321 reviews.

Roxy Simons of Yahoo UK gave Wonka a five-star review that praised the “delightful, captivating musical” and Chalamet’s “wondrous” performance. She added: “Paul King has created a whimsical prequel that has a delightful story and soundtrack, and is as charming as Gene Wilder’s original — if not more so.” Read critics’ full verdicts below:

• Yahoo Movies UK: Timothée Chalamet delivers a world of pure imagination in sweet musical (3-min read)

• The Telegraph: The most fun you’ll have in a cinema all year (4 min read)

• The Independent: Timothée Chalamet is a bit miscast in this otherwise magical Roald Dahl prequel (3 min read)

• The Guardian: Timothée Chalamet’s Chocolate Factory prequel is a superbly sweet treat (3 min read)

Is there a trailer for Wonka?

October 2023 gave us a second sweet look at cinema’s latest take on Willy Wonka, with Hugh Grant’s mischievous Oompa Loompa once again stealing the show after popping up briefly in the film’s first teaser.

We also get a better idea of the adventure waiting for Wonka, one that’ll see this young chocolatier go from a nobody to a confectionary king while encountering a colourful cast of characters. Watch it below:

Meanwhile, the first trailer for King’s new take on Dahl’s classic kids’ book arrived in July 2023 and invited us into a cheery, chocolate-box world where we meet the young boy who will one day become the owner of a magical sweet factory.

Packed with heart, charm and plenty of British stars, this first collection of clips teased something very much within the same vein as Paddington, the adaptation also penned by King and his co-writer Simon Farnaby.

However, it was Grant’s reluctantly-dancing Oompa Loompa who stole the show in the trailer’s final moments.

Who is in the Wonka cast?

Bones and All and Call Me By Your Name star Timothée Chalamet appears in the titular role. He was announced to play Willy Wonka in 2021.

In an interview with People, director Paul King said of the actor: “I think what’s so remarkable about his performance is not only that he is funny and mischievous and quite mysterious, as well — just like the Willy Wonka that people will know — but also, he brings such heart to the role and he’s a brilliant actor.”

The famous chocolate maker was previously played by the late Gene Wilder, in the beloved 1971 original film, and Johnny Depp, in the 2005 remake.

Peep Show actor Paterson Joseph stars as Arthur Slugworth, one of Wonka’s rival chocolatiers. Meanwhile, The Shape of Water’s Sally Hawkins plays Wonka’s mother, Blackadder star Rowan Atkinson will play Father Julius, and Grant appears as an Oompa-Loompa.

The Favourite Oscar-winner Olivia Colman plays as Mrs. Scrubbit, someone initially sceptical of Wonka’s talents, with Matt Lucas playing the snooty Prodnose and Keegan-Michael Key playing the local Chief of Police. Relative newcomer Calah Lane can be glimpsed singing and accompanying Wonka in both trailers as Noodle.

The Mighty Boosh star Rich Fulcher plays the brilliantly-named Larry Chucklesworth, Downton Abbey’s Jim Carter appears as Abacus Crunch, Murder in Succesville’s Tom Davies plays Bleacher and Natasha Rothwell will play Piper Benz.

The cast also includes Ghosts’ Simon Farnaby, Ghost Stories’ Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Stath Lets Flats’ Ellie White, Wednesday’s Murray McArthur and Doctor Who actor Tracy Ifeachor. Comedian Isy Suttie is also involved, making Wonka an unofficial Peep Show reunion alongside Colman and Joseph.

Who wrote and directed Wonka?

Wonka was directed by Paul King, who has previously worked on films including Paddington and its 2017 sequel. King was officially announced as the film’s director back in 2021.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, he spoke about Wonka being a spiritual successor to the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, saying: “What I wanted this movie to be was like a companion piece to that movie. If you imagine those people in that world 25 years earlier, that was my starting process. Eventually, he would grow into that person and that factory.”

Read more: Why is there a Willy Wonka prequel?

During an exclusive interview with Yahoo Movies UK, King shed a little more light onto Grant’s Oompa Loompas, specifically describing them as “gleefully naughty.”

“The Oompa Loompas are such brilliant characters in the book, you love them so much especially if you’re a child reading it,” King told us.

“They’re so funny and they’re so naughty, and they’re so mean but in a very funny way, and they say all the things that nobody can say about these kids except under their breath. I think they’re so gleefully naughty and I think that naughtiness is very Roald Dahl, and I think it’s also what Hugh does so brilliantly.”

The screenplay was co-written by both King and Simon Farnaby, who is known for his work on Horrible Histories and Paddington 2.

Where was Wonka filmed?

Filming took for Wonka place across England and Utah in the US. In early 2022, Chalamet was spotted on set at Verulamium Park in St Albans, Hertfordshire, which had been transformed into a wintry landscape with the help of fake snow.

Other UK locations included Bath, Lyme Regis, Mapledurham and Wendover Airport, as well as the Warner Bros. studios in Leavesden, near Watford.

Wonka is available to buy and rent now