Less than two months after the death of original Willy Wonka And The Chocolate Factory star Gene Wilder, Warner Bros, has announced plans to re-invigorate the franchise. According to Variety, Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts And Where To Find Them producer David Heyman has teamed with the studio to create a new movie based around the character of Willy Wonka; the Roald Dahl estate is also on board, and sold Warner Bros. the rights to the character earlier this year.
Although this new film will take place before the events of Roald Dahl’s 1964 book Charlie And The Chocolate Factory, it reportedly won’t be an origin story, dashing the hopes of those hoping to see that “dark reimagining” of the character’s origins that appeared on the 2014 Black List finally come to imagination-scarring life. Instead, it’ll be a standalone adventure set in the early days of Wonka’s factory, and all of the scrumdiddlyumptious storylines contained within its walls. No matter what, it’ll be an original script, as Dahl himself never elaborated on the Wonka character’s past. (Tim Burton’s 2005 film adaptation did, giving Willy a domineering dentist father named Dr. Wilbur Wonka, but let’s not talk about that.)
No writers, cast, or director have yet been announced for the project.