‘Willy Wonka’ Origin Movie Eyes ‘Paddington’ Director Paul King

Before Charlie Bucket got a golden ticket to a world of pure imagination, Willy Wonka began a corporate empire of innovative candies that took the world by storm. To tell that story, Warner Brothers are looking to enlist the director of Paddington and its sequel, Paul King, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

WB has been rumored to be interested in making a Willy Wonka prequel since at least 2017, with Ryan Gosling rumored to be interested in the title role. Regardless of whoever gets to wear the top hat, however, King and producer David Heyman are apparently in negotiations to take what they’ve learned from two Paddington movies and apply it to the world that Roald Dahl’s most famous character. The script, currently kept under wraps, is written by Simon Rich.

Little is known about the plot of the Willy Wonka reimagining, but THR seems to be under the impression that at least part of it will be based in Loompaland, a mysterious far-off, jungle-covered island where Wonka discovers and recruits the Oompa-Loompa people while searching for new ingredients to craft his candy from. Given that the movie is suggested to be an adventure film, this would only make sense, as Wonka’s workers are perhaps one of the most memorable aspects of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory aside from the eccentric candy-maker himself.

Willy Wonka does not currently have a release date.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter