Netflix has announced that directors Jared Stern (The LEGO Batman Movie) and Elaine Bogan (Spirit Untamed) and executive producer Taika Waititi (Klara and the Sun) are reimaging Roald Dahl’s beloved novel Charlie and the Chocolate Factory with the new animated feature Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory.
Produced by Sony Pictures Imageworks (Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Kpop Demon Hunters), the film will serve as a sequel to the original novel and takes place in modern day London, with Kit Connor (Heartstopper) voicing the newly-created character of Charlie Paley alongside Waititi as the legendary Willy Wonka. The official synopsis reads:
Willy Wonka (Waititi) has spent the years since the Golden Ticket contest behind bars (not the chocolate kind) for the crime of turning a child into a blueberry. Having served his time, Wonka returns to his factory determined to add a little sweetness to a bitter world. But one thing stands in his way: teenager Charlie Paley (Connor) and his friends. Facing eviction, this next generation of “rotten” kids plot to break into the factory, nab a priceless Wonka Bar, and save their homes. But like many before them who enter the fantastical world of the factory, these kids are in for a bit more than they can chew…
“Having been raised on the delightfully twisted world of Willy Wonka, it’s a privilege to bring his continued adventures to life as twisted adults,” said Stern and Bogan. “And how sweet to do it like never before via the magic of animation, creating a Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory that’s more deliciously unhinged than your wildest imagination. If we do a rotten job, you can throw us down a rubbish chute!”
“Our directors, Jared and Elaine, have a bold vision befitting this new adventure whilst remaining sympathetic to the legacy, and I’m thrilled to play my part in bringing Willy Wonka to life in animated form,” added Waititi. “He is so special to me, and the opportunity to voice such an iconic, eccentric candy genius—if a little mischievous at times—is hugely exciting.”
Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory becomes the latest Roald Dahl project at Netflix after the streamer acquired The Roald Dahl Story Company back in 2021, and follows Wes Anderson’s The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar and the animated feature The Twits.
