“Wonka” on TV from May 24th: fairytale home cinema start with shooting star

“Wonka” on TV from May 24th
Fairytale home cinema start with shooting star

With the simple as “For the film entitled “Mr. Wonka”, which was released in Germany in December last year, director and screenwriter Paul King (45) took on a mammoth task. Delivering the previously unknown prequel to the immensely popular children’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”, while also creating a daring genre mix and painting Hugh Grant (63) orange and shrinking him to the size of Oompa-Loompa – that could have gone colossally wrong.

But it didn’t. “Wonka” not only raked in a very respectable sum at the box office with worldwide box office revenue of around 632 million US dollars. It also provided a welcome, colorful escape from the sometimes dull reality for almost two hours. Willy Wonka will prove that he is capable of doing this outside of the cold Christmas season from May 24th. Then rising star Timothée Chalamet (28) will serve up his delicious chocolate creations in the home cinema premiere on Sky and the in-house streaming service Wow and add some charming singing as the icing on the cake.

A young man with many dreams and even more opponents – that’s what it’s all about

He has traveled the world for seven years, collecting extraordinary ingredients from all corners of the earth and perfecting his craft as a chocolate maker. With a big goal and many recipes in his luggage, he finally wants to fulfill his dream of owning his own business and sweetening the world with his chocolate. But when the young Willy Wonka (Chalamet) is close to his goal, the chocolate cartel around Slugworth (Paterson Joseph, 59), Prodnose (Matt Lucas, 50), Fickelgruber (Mathew Baynton, 43) and the local police chief (Keegan-Michael Key, 53) stands in his way.

Wonka also falls into the clutches of the brazen criminal couple Mrs. Scrubbit (Olivia Colman, 50) and Bleacher (Tom Davis, 45). He has to work off a horrendous loan from them, and he also has debts to the snooty Oompa-Loompa Lofty (Grant). The young chocolatier finds active support in the orphan Noodle (Calah Lane, 15), who is herself exploited by Scrubbit and Bleacher. Together they forge an ingenious plan to fulfill Wonka’s lifelong dream after all.

Not an easy balancing act

A mix of fantasy, comedy and musical, with dark tones occasionally hinted at – that’s not a film recipe that immediately sounds like a box office hit. But “Wonka” remains true to the mix that made Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s book a timeless success with a loyal fan base. And of course they looked like a hawk at King’s prequel film, which only took a few characters from the original and otherwise stood on its own two feet – and did so skillfully.

This is mainly thanks to two people: Firstly, King himself, who already proved with his incredibly charming “Paddington” films that he can captivate both young and old viewers. And on the other hand, the committed main actor. In film adaptations of the original story, Gene Wilder (1933-2016) and Johnny Depp (60) in 2005 took on the role of the cranky chocolate factory owner. Last year, Timothée Chalamet, an actor, followed in their footsteps and is currently the focus of attention like no other star.

Rapid career

Since his breakout role in 2017’s sensitive “Call Me by Your Name,” Chalamet has become Hollywood’s all-purpose weapon. Whether it’s a drama, comedy, historical film or sci-fi flick – there doesn’t seem to be any type casting for the 28-year-old. So it’s no wonder that in the case of “Wonka” he was able to confidently carry a cinematic mix of genres on his narrow shoulders.

The young Hollywood star gives the chocolatier a captivating charm and infantile pathos, presented in numerous dance and song interludes. He moves in a gallant and mischievous manner, but at the same time seems somewhat naive and unworldly. A dreamer, in fact, who refuses to deviate one millimeter from his optimism, even under the most disgusting circumstances.

In fact, Chalamet even managed to create a small sensation last year: As “Indiewire” reported at the time, he was the first actor since John Travolta (70) to have two highest-grossing films within eight months. Travolta set this record over four decades ago with “Saturday Night Fever” and “Grease.” Chalamet followed suit in 2023 with “Dune: Part 2” and “Wonka”.

A little scene-stealer

Hugh Grant is only seen for a few minutes in “Wonka” as a snooty Oompa-Loompa in dandy clothes, but he makes full use of it: his grimness and irony make the orange-skinned and green-haired chocolate keeper, who has shrunk to 30 centimeters, one of the stars of the film Films.

Anyone who wants to see this in their own cinema will have the opportunity to do so from May 24th. From then on, “Wonka” will be available as a home cinema premiere either via Sky or the associated streaming service Wow.

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