A Willy Wonka Prequel Is Coming And Finn Wolfhard Needs To Play Him
16 February 2018, 11:42
It’s been reported that a prequel about the life and times of Willy Wonka is in development. The bad news (for those that are actually looking forward to it): It won’t be out for AGES. The good news: Johnny Depp won’t be in it.
There’s no details about the plot of the film so far but it’s said to revolve around Willy Wonka’s life before he decided to set up that massive threat to global warming of a chocolate factory and before he met Charlie.
So far, only Ryan Gosling’s name has been attached to the project after expressing interest when rumours of a prequel first started circulating in 2016. Am I prepared to have a crush on Willy Wonka? Absolutely not. Would he make a great Willy Wonka? Yes, so I’ll allow it.
But if Warner Bros. were looking for someone younger? Someone to play Willy Wonka in those textbook melancholic flashback scenes to his childhood? There’s only one person for the job. And his name is Finn Wolfhard.
Wolfhard has recently just played Charlie Bucket in the stage adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at the Hollywood Bowl so he’s already familiar with the source material, he has the ~range~ and he has the deadpan ~sass~.
The film is being produced by Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them producer David Heyman. The director of Paddington 2, Paul King, is said to be taking the helm for the origin story, which bodes well seeing as Paddington 2 is now the highest reviewed film on Rotten Tomatoes ever. There’s reportedly chatter that if the film does well, it will become popular enough to spawn its own standalone franchise.
