Timothée Chalamet is ready to loosen up his voice for the Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel Wonka, which is shaping up to be a musical. During an interview for Time, Chalamet revealed he has been recording songs at Abbey Road, the recording studio located in London where filming is also currently underway for the prequel movie. The actor also shared the first look at his character in an image posted to social media over the weekend.
So far, we know little about Wonka, apart from the fact the upcoming film will both work as a prequel to Roald Dahl’s book and a reboot of the franchise at Warner Bros. However, with Chalamet’s confirmation that he’s recording original songs for the production, we can expect Wonka to be as musical as the previous film adaptations of Dahl’s work — Mel Stuart’s 1971 Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory and Tim Burton’s 2005 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It was previously reported that Neil Hannon of the band The Divine Comedy will be writing original songs for the Wonka prequel.
Chalamet also revealed that recording songs on Abbey Road puts a lot of pressure on his shoulders. In Chalamet’s words, “I felt out of my league. Like I was desecrating history!” Regardless, his experience of working on Wonka has been positive, as the upcoming movie has an uplifting message. According to Chalamet, “It’s not mining the darker emotions in life. It’s a celebration of being off-center and of being O.K. with the weirder parts of you that don’t quite fit in.”
Wonka’s impressive cast includes Keegan-Michael Key, Tom Davis, Simon Farnaby, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Mathew Baynton, Jim Carter, and Rich Fulcher. Recently, the prequel also added Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, and Academy Award winner Olivia Colman.
Wonka is directed by Paul King, the mind behind the Paddington movie franchise. King wrote the script with Farnaby, the co-writer of Paddington 2. David Heyman is set to produce the film for Heyday Films, alongside Luke Kelly, with executive producers Michael Siegel and Alexandra Derbyshire.
Wonka is slated for theatrical release on March 17, 2023. Stay tuned to Collider for more updates, including what promises to be a rather musical trailer when it eventually drops.