An Origin Story From Out of Nowhere!
Finally! The Willy Wonka origin story we’ve all been waiting for! Just kidding, I don’t really know anyone who watched Willy Wonka as a kid and has been clamoring for an origin story. WILLY WONKA AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY always seemed like a great stand alone film (and book), full of all the ‘pure imagination’ needed to entertain its audience. Alas, this is yet another clear sign of the times. WB is set on milking every little revenue stream possible from its IP. If that means a Wonka origin story, followed by a Grandpa Joe origin story, followed by an Oompa Loompa tv series, then that is exactly what they’ll do. It’s annoying that money will be pumped into these cookie-cutter spinoffs versus new, original stories, but studios want ‘sure things’ in terms of revenue streams and franchises do just that.
Timothee Chalamet is set to star, which is an interesting development. Obviously Timmy is one of the biggest young names in Hollywood these days. For those of us who became fans of his work through his numerous indie roles, this may come as a bit of a shock that he would be the lead in a studio musical piece about Willy Wonka. I can understand it from a career perspective though. He is finally stepping into the mainstream. He has both THE FRENCH DISPATCH and DUNE premiering this year and wants to keep that momentum going. Tim is graduating from the indie life into tentpole stardom. In terms of career progression, it makes sense. Artistically, however, I hope that he doesn’t fully switch over to the studio system and still keeps some loyalty to the original storytelling of indies.
I have my doubts about how this will turn out. I love for the original Gene Wilder film. I love the character of Willy Wonka, but I’m still not confident about how this will turn out. I think it will either be a smash hit or a colossal failure, given how much money will likely be dumped into the production and advertising. Either way, I just hope it doesn’t take away from the sentimental value the original holds for so many.