ICYMI, the new Wonka movie is coming out this December, and our boy Timothée Chalamet is playing Willy Wonka. I expected it to be a little bit more on the comical side, but after seeing the preview released this week, instead this seems like a literal fever dream of a movie. When Wonka was first announced, the original release date was March 17, 2023 but Warner Bros. pushed the film back to Dec 15, 2023 just in time for the holiday season. The cast full of A-list actors (Hugh Grant as an Oompa Loompa) leaves me with so many questions.
Why is there another remake of Willy Wonka?
If you weren’t following the film before, you might think this is just another remake of a movie that’s already been made twice, but Wonka is the prequel to the original 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The original trailer was released at the 2023 CinemaCon, and IndieWire said “the crowd gobbled it up like a Wonka bar.”
Internet reaction to Wonka
With the trailer being released to the public this week, a lot of us had mixed emotions on what Chalamet’s character was really doing. User @Hellyeahboys dueted the Fandango trailer on TikTok to share the difference between Gene Wilder’s Willy Wonka and Chalamet’s Wonka, highlighting how whimsical this version is.
Another user, @Multirose96, posted her take on the differences of the three Wonka’s including Johnny Depp’s Wonka which many (if not all) of us grew up with. Even though Depp’s movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory was focused on Charlie, we all remember how those clout goggles Wonka wore were a fashion trend in 2016. I also have to mention that this is the second time Timothée Chalamet has played the same character as his ex’s (Lily Rose Depp) dad. Weird, right?
The trend of people remaking the trailer on TikTok was started by @Greenitalian. Her comment section was one of the funniest things to read. One person wrote “This was more enchanting and whimsical than the actual trailer.” Another TikToker commented similar to a fairy comment “nope 🙅♀️scratch that 🚫 reverse it 🔄” which is the iconic line that will stay stuck in my head for the next month.
Was Chalamet cast without an audition?
User @Ahkleinman posted a video about the article People Magazine released, saying Chalamet got the role because the director saw a high-school video of lil Timmy Tim rapping Hell’s Kitchen Bed, which is somehow cringier than the trailer. Yikes.
The remakes of the trailer get progressively more quirkier when you’re scrolling underneath the sound. A parody account of Air O’Hare from The Lorax even made a remake of the trailer, I never expected to see that crossover at any point in my life.
Honestly these trailers have me more intrigued than the movie itself, with @turtlewithhat making my favorite one. They have the Wonka trailer up in the background but the execution absolutely ate that Wonka bar up.