Warner Bros’ upcoming Wonka movie, starring Timothée Chalamet, will reportedly keep viewers entertained for just under two hours.
According to The Movie Database, the final runtime for Wonka will be one hour and 53 minutes (or 113 minutes). For comparison, that will make the Willy Wonka origin story two minutes shorter than Tim Burton’s 2005 adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (115 minutes). However, Wonka will be 13 minutes longer than 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (100 minutes).
Based on the extraordinary character at the center of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the upcoming Warner Bros. movie reimagines Willy Wonka as a young man chock-full of ideas and “determined to change the world one delectable bite at a time—proving that the best things in life begin with a dream, and if you’re lucky enough to meet Willy Wonka, anything is possible,” reads the official synopsis.
Wonka Isn’t a Musical
Despite the Oompa Loompas singing a lot in Dahl’s book, Wonka director Paul King confirmed that the film would not be a musical. “Dahl always uses poetry, but I didn’t want it to just become a musical where people are singing dialogue to each other for no discernible reason. I felt like it was more like a movie with songs than a musical,” the filmmaker explained. Wonka will still include several show-stopping performances from Chalamet, whom King said has “a beautiful singing voice.” The director praised the actor’s range, explaining that the film “goes from a couple of bigger, showstopper-y sort of things to moments of real pure emotion, and he can do it all… I’m going to sound like a crazed fan.”
Wonka Director Already Has Sequel Plans
While a sequel to Wonka likely depends on how well the film does at the box office this December, King revealed that he has already thought about where he could take the iconic character next. “I would definitely like to do more. And I’d like to spend more time in this world,” King said in September 2023. “Dahl was definitely interested in taking Willy Wonka on. There’s drafts that didn’t really go anywhere, and there’s a short story. He didn’t really write sequels, but this was the one book where he clearly felt there was more in the tank there.”
King added that there are many directions he could go in with a potential Wonka 2, explaining how he’s not tied to the source material in the same way the upcoming Dune: Part Two is to Frank Herbert’s sci-fi novel. “There’s an awful lot more Wonka story that we have that we would like to tell. It’s not like Dune: Part One where you go, ‘This is what’s happening in Part Two.’ Hopefully, it works exquisitely as a stand-alone movie. But I would definitely like to do more,” King said, teasing that he’d also like to “meet some more Oompa Loompas.”
Wonka opens in theaters on Dec. 15.
Source: The Movie Database
