Warner Bros. Pictures has just released the second official trailer for its upcoming Wonka film, and the newest chocolatey sneak peek answers some of the biggest questions about the new movie.
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A Third “Wonka” Film, But a First of Its Kind
First announced more than seven years ago but delayed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Warner Bros Pictures‘s latest Wonka movie, which was originally slated to be released in March 2023, is now set for a theatrical release just in time for Christmas.
Directed by Paddington‘s Paul King, Wonka features an all-star cast, including actor Timothée Chalamet (Dune) as a young Willy Wonka and aspiring chocolatier, Rowan Atkinson as a priest in the film, Olivia Colman, Sally Hawkins (Paddington, Paddington 2) as Wonka’s mother, Keegan Michael Key (Pinocchio, Toy Story 4, Super Mario Bros. Movie), and Hugh Grant (Paddington 2, Dungeons & Dragons) as an Oompa-Loompa.
In 2018, the producer of the Wonka film–and primary producer of all eight Harry Potter films–David Heyman, described Warner Bros. Pictures’ newest Willy Wonka-inspired movie as the prequel to Gene Wilder’s 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and suggested the film would answer a very important question about the peculiar candy maker.
“When we find [Willy Wonka] at the chocolate factory doing the golden ticket,” Heyman asked rhetorically, “where is he before that?”
Two live-action Wonka-themed films preceded the newest Wonka movie, including Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (1971) starring Gene Wilder, and a Tim Burton take on the story about a boy named Charlie Bucket, titled Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) starring Johnny Depp. Each is based on British author Roald Dahl’s 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, but only the 2023 Warner Bros. film looks back at who Willy Wonka was before he was a world-renowned chocolatier–and what led him to become a candy-making genius of sorts.
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Questions Answered
And while the film itself will answer questions about Willy Wonka’s background, the latest official trailer to be released has answered some questions fans have about the film itself.
Until now, it wasn’t clear what role actor Keegan Michael Key would play in Wonka, though his name is among those listed in the film’s star-studded cast. In the trailer just released by Warner Bros., it’s apparent that Key plays a law enforcement role–possibly that of a constable, judging from his costuming.
In the trailer, Key’s character is told to be sure Willy Wonka gets a message–that he’s not to make chocolate anymore, and Key’s character goes about stressing that message to Wonka in no uncertain terms.
The trailer also gives fans an idea about what Wonka’s chocolate factory looked like in the beginning–when the junior chocolatier was only beginning to make a name for himself. Though the trailer is longer than two minutes, fans still only get a few glimpses of the facility that serve as tiny windows into what the film will be like when it debuts at the box office just before Christmas.
Wonka is set to premiere at theaters across the country on December 8, 2023.
