New Willy Wonka Movie Will Tell An Untold Story About The Candy-Maker

More details have come to light about the upcoming Willy Wonka movie from Warner Bros and Harry Potter producer David Heyman. Heyman told Collider that it will be a prequel, which is an exciting development because it means it'll cover the mostly untold story of how Wonka became the eccentric chocolate-lover as we know him. Importantly, while Heyman did confirm the new film is a prequel instead of sequel, he cautioned that specific plot details are still unconfirmed.

"We are still trying to figure out how to tell that story, what the story is," he said. "It's a prequel, it's not a sequel. What makes Willy--when we find him at the chocolate factory doing the golden ticket, where is he before that? What leads him to that place where he's locked himself away?… It's how does he get there? So we're playing around with that."

Warner Bros. is reportedly in talks with Paddington director Paul King to direct, but Heyman said King's involvement is not 100 percent confirmed yet. King is directing the new Pinocchio for Disney, which might impact his availability to work on the new Willy Wonka film.

While there hasn't been an entire film dedicated to Willy Wonka's upbringing, Tim Burton's 2005 movie starring Johnny Depp as Wonka contained flashbacks that showed Wonka clashing with his dentist father, who was played by Christopher Lee. The 1971 Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, which featured Gene Wilder in the lead role, didn't get into Wonka's backstory much at all.

The shortlist of actors to play Wonka in the new film reportedly includes Ryan Gosling, Ezra Miller, and Donald Glover. However, no official casting announcements have been made. If it's not already clear, it seems the new Willy Wonka movie is still quite a long time off.