While many rolled their eyes at the thought of a Willy Wonka origin story, the talent of those involved started to win people over. Writer/director Paul King achieved perfection with his Paddington movies and Timothée Chalamet is in the midst of an all-star rise to the top; thankfully, those ingredients seem to have mixed into a lovely family movie just in time for the holidays. Wonka had its world premiere in London today, and the first reactions have begun to emerge.
We’ve assembled a handful of Wonka first reactions below and will update with more as they come in.
With just a few more weeks until the release of Wonka, the latest tracking is predicting a $35-$40 million opening, which is a big increase from estimates at the beginning of the month. Even still, those numbers could easily go up, especially if positive word of mouth spreads.
Should Wonka prove to be successful, Paul King isn’t about to rule out a sequel. “There’s a few irons in fires,” King told Deadline. “I think the character could absolutely take exploration, but let’s see how tonight goes — and then we’ll make 17 sequels.“
Wonka stars Timothée Chalamet in the title role and will tell “the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today.” In addition to Chalamet, Wonka also stars Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, Olivia Colman, and more. Wonka will hit theaters on December 15th.
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