Timothée Chalamet in “Wonka.” Jaap Buittendijk You know that “Wonka” has no right to exist. You saw the trailer and openly groaned. You said to the person next to you, “Seriously? ‘Wonka’?” You didn’t ask for this movie. No one asked for it. But here “Wonka” is now, and we all must reckon with it. … Read more
Having remade Gene Wilder’s 1971 classic Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory with Johnny Depp’s 2005 version, Warner Bros has been looking to revitalise their IP. Tragically a misfire followed a year after reacquiring the Roald Dahl rights in 2016, with the direct-to-video Tom and Jerry: Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. The animated film … Read more
The National Theatre’s Christmas show is always a gamble. Having to compete with a plethora of pantos and a tsunami of saccharine musicals puts them in an invidious position. Given the recent controversy over the rewriting of Roald Dahl’s books it is a brave move to mount a musical of one of his most popular … Read more
It’s been 18 years since Johnny Depp starred in Tim Burton’s adaptation of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and over half a century on from Gene Wilder’s take on Willy Wonka. Rather than yet another adaptation of the 1964 Roald Dahl classic book, Warner Bros has instead opted for a prequel origin story. From the … Read more