It’s a golden ticket! Audiences everywhere will soon be returning to the chocolate factory in Wonka, an upcoming musical prequel to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. Timothée Chalamet has garnered a lot of attention as a younger version of the titular chocolatier, but a new trailer for Wonka shows Hugh Grant transform into an Oompa-Loompa and effectively steal the show.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is based on the 1964 novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl and tells the story of young Charlie Bucket, whose life is turned upside down when he is able to visit Wonka’s chocolate factory. In the past, Wonka had been played by Johnny Depp and, before him, Gene Wilder. In both versions – 1971 and 2005 – the Oompa-Loompas were a huge part of the plot.
Hugh Grant is unveiled as an Oompa-Loompa in a new ‘Wonka’ trailer
Tuesday saw the release of a new trailer for Wonka, giving audiences a thorough look at Chalamet’s take on the character, albeit much younger and in the early days of his chocolatier career… chocareer? But for some, it’s -year-old Grant as an Oompa-Loompa that’s captivating people.
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In the lore of the franchise started by Dahl, these individuals are little people from a far-off island; their tribe was under constant threat until they secured safety with Wonka at his factory. They work tirelessly, creatively, and musically in his factory in exchange for cocoa beans, their favorite food. In the trailer, Wonka is able to interact with one after he snatches an Oompa-Loompa who had been following him.
The ‘Wonka’ team is excited about sharing several aspects of the film
Wonka, which is set to release on December 15, is directed by Paul King, whose work on the 2014 family comedy Paddington, along with its 2017 sequel, earned him BAFTA nominations. King co-wrote the script with Simon Farnaby, who is a member of the Horrible Histories troupe, and who also wrote Paddington 2.
King was excited when Grant agreed to join the Wonka cast, calling the team-up “very wonderful.” King is charmed by the Oompa-Loompas and knows it’s important that they get the portrayal just right. “The Oompa Loompas are such brilliant characters in the book,” he mused. “you love them so much especially if you’re a child reading it. They’re so funny and they’re so naughty, and they’re so mean but in a very funny way, and they say all the things that nobody can say about these kids except under their breath. I think they’re so gleefully naughty and I think that naughtiness is very Roald Dahl, and I think it’s also what Hugh does so brilliantly.”
To King, the casting was a match made in heaven. “It’s hard to get a straight sincere sentence from him,” he’s said of Grant, “there’s normally a deeply inappropriate joke in the end of it but that just felt very Oompa Loompa-y.”
Check out his performance in the trailer below!