In an odd move for Warner Bros and ‘Harry Potter’ producer David Heyman, apparently they are looking to revisit the world of ‘Willy Wonka’ once more, only this time it is not going to be a remake, or even a sequel, which some might argue would make the most sense as there are actual books written as sequels to ‘Charlie and the Chocolate Factory’ that would be fascinating to see up on the big screen. No, instead Heyman and Warner Bros have decided to take the beloved character and write their own story for him, which sounds like it may end up being an origin story, feeling that they have a good handle on Willy Wonka the character and can pull off a movie about his younger days.
Right.
According to Heyman while speaking to /Film recently at a ‘Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them’ press junket:
“It’s not a remake. They’ve done two films, quite different. But it’s possibly an origin story. We’re just in the early stages of it, working with a writer called Simon Rich, which is wonderful… I’m a huge Roald Dahl fan. I’ve been trying to work on Dahl material for quite some time but they’re all tied up. So when this was suggested, I didn’t take a moment to pause and want to jump right in…It’s challenging because you don’t have Dahl, you don’t have a Dahl book, and yet you have a Dahl character. But I think there’s a lot in his character that suggests who he is and also where he might come from or what his childhood or his middle age might have been like. So we’re exploring that. We’re discussing it. We’re in the very early stages and very excited about what lies ahead.”
Personally, I think this sounds awful, and once again Warner Bros is desperately trying to capitalize on pre-existing material instead of taking a chance on something original. And the lunacy to me is the fact that there is source material for more movies about this world, and they are choosing to ignore these and just write their own stories, feeling they can do better than Roald Dahl himself. That’s some massive ego, and on behalf of Mr. Dahl, I hope they fail miserably.
What are your thoughts on the matter? Feel free to share them in the comments below!
Nick is a freelance writer based in Los Angeles, who belongs to the privileged few who enjoyed the ending to ‘Lost.’ For more of Nick’s thoughts and articles, follow him on Twitter.
