New Willy Wonka movie in the pipeline

A new Willy Wonka movie is in the offing, and according to Entertainment Weekly, Paul King, the director of the Paddington movies, is in the frame to direct.

King, previously known for his work on cult comedy series The Mighty Boosh, is said to be ‘final negotiations’ to make the movie.

Warner Bros is producing the project, while the script has been penned by Simon Rich, who wrote The Secret Life of Pets.

The action reportedly focuses on Roald Dahl’s chocolate maker prior to the events of his books Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.

David Heyman, the producer behind both the Paddington movies and also the Harry Potter series, is producing the film, and there’s also apparently a new script of Dahl’s The Witches by Guillermo Del Toro in the offing too at Warner Bros.

Wonka has been memorably brought to the big screen twice before.

The legendary Gene Wilder played him in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory for director Mel Stuart in 1971.

Then Johnny Depp donned an Anna Wintour wig to play him for Tim Burton in 2005.

King could potentially do a superb job in bringing the iconic confectioner to the screen for a new story, and is riding particularly high following his work on the Paddington movies.

The second movie, released in November last year, has a record-breaking 100% fresh rating on reviews aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, making it the most favourably reviewed movie ever.

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