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A Willy Wonka prequel film is confirmed - 50 years after the Gene Wilder classic

A Willy Wonka prequel film is confirmed - 50 years after the Gene Wilder classic

An origin story about Roald Dahl's mysterious chocolatier is on the way, after four years of development. And it's got a star-studded cast that's bound to garner a lot of publicity ahead of its release.

Warner Bros announced that production has begun on Wonka. The studio powerhouse describes the film as exploring

the vivid, mythical beginnings of the imaginative young inventor before he becomes the renowned scrumdiddlyumptious Mozart of chocolate.

A star studded cast

Wonka will be a veritable who's who of UK actors. Timothée Chalamet (Dune, Call me by your name) is set to play Willy Wonka. Also in there will be Rowan Atkinson, famously Mr Bean and Blackadder. Oscar winning Olivia Coleman, also of The Crown and Fleabag is in the mix, along with Sally Hawkins of Paddington and The Shape of Water. 

Other iterations of Willy Wonka

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It's 50 years since Gene Wilder immortalised the character in 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The movie has enriched Christmas time television for generations of people globally ever since.

We then saw another on-screen Wonka when Johnny Depp played a rather bizarre version of him in 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. 

When will Wonka be on our screens?

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Warner Bros has not yet given a release date for the film, and plot lines remain thin on the ground. All we know is that it will explore how the world's most famous chocolatier and confectioner first developed a sweet tooth.

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