Wonka (2023 Film)

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Part of a series on Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. [View Related Entries]

About

Wonka refers to the upcoming 2023 film about the fictional character Willy Wonka (from Roald Dahl's children's book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory) that's a prequel which covers Wonka's origin story. The movie was directed by Paul King and starred actor Timothée Chalamet as a young Willy Wonka. Predominantly starting in July 2023, the movie became the subject of various memes and viral discourse on websites like Twitter directly following the release of the movie's first trailer. Many of the memes made fun of Timothée Chalamet playing Willy Wonka, alluding to a perception that he was miscast, predominantly referencing his alleged inability to be whimsical, eccentric or silly, and comparing him to precursor Willy Wonka actors like Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp.

History

In October 2016, Warner Bros. first teased the movie in a press release in which they stated a new Willy Wonka film was in the works that would be "a standalone movie focused on Wonka and his early adventures."^[1] Years later, in January 2021, the film was officially announced as Wonka directed by Paul King with a release date of March 17th, 2023.^[2] In May 2021, it was announced that actor Timothée Chalamet (known for Call Me by Your Name and Dune) was set to star as Willy Wonka.^[3] The update was tweeted by the Twitter^[3] account @DiscussingFilm on May 24th, 2021, gaining roughly 15,000 likes in two years (shown below).

Online Reactions

Due to a series of viral tweets and posts like the aforementioned one, many internet users on Twitter and elsewhere reacted to the movie and Timothée Chalamet's casting. For instance, on May 24th, 2021, Twitter^[4] user @ch3rrychlmt tweeted a photo of a chocolate bar costume, humorously claiming that she was going to audition. The tweet gained roughly 9,200 likes in two years (shown below, left). On May 24th, Twitter^[5] user @Fred_Delicious quote retweeted @DiscussingFilm, writing, "Joker-style reboot where he doesn't even try to hide the fact that he simply enjoys murdering children," earning roughly 1,000 likes in two years (shown below, right).

Posts about Chalamet's casting and the movie in general also appeared on Reddit, such as a post shared to /r/movies^[6] on May 24th, 2021, that gained roughly 1,500 upvotes and over 460 comments.

Developments

Release Date Change

In March 2022, it was announced by DEADLINE^[7] that the release date for Wonka had shifted to December 14th, 2023.

First Trailer Release

On July 11th, 2023, Warner Bros. tweeted^[8] the first trailer for Wonka, gaining roughly 7,400 likes and 1.5 million views in one day (shown below). The trailer was also posted to YouTube^[9] by Warner Bros. where it gained roughly 10 million views and 246,000 likes in one day.

Only in theaters December 15. #WonkaMovie pic.twitter.com/wLAcx0IKIF

— Warner Bros. Pictures (@wbpictures) July 11, 2023

Discourse and memes quickly surfaced about the first trailer for Wonka, specifically centering on Timothée Chalamet's acting. For instance, on July 11th, 2023, Twitter^[10] user @evermoresivy tweeted a clip from the trailer (originally tweeted^[11] by @blveslidepark) in which Chalamet said, "So quiet up and listen down. Nope, scratch that. Reverse it." @evermoresivy captioned the video, "this delivery i’m cryingghdjdhs," gaining roughly 49,500 likes in one day (shown below).

this delivery i’m cryingghdjdhs pic.twitter.com/aTcMp1wVv1

— lina (@evermoresivy) July 11, 2023

Due to the trailer, some online started to attest that Chalamet was miscast as Willy Wonka, ultimately questioning how whimsical he could be. For instance, on July 11th, 2023, Twitter^[12] user @Trey_Explainer tweeted, "Bro is trying so hard to be whimsical," gaining roughly 58,700 likes in one day (shown below, left). Others criticized the writing and not Chalamet, such as Twitter^[13] user @EPM106 who QRT'd @evermoresivy on July 11th, writing, "Don’t think anyone could pull this off tbh," receiving roughly 7,500 likes in one day (shown below, right).

Other viral tweets^[14] surfaced that questioned Chalamet in relation to the I'm Just a Silly Little Guy concept in memes, stating that he didn't have "silly guy energy." Others on Twitter^[15] went viral for defending Chalamet's silliness, such as Twitter^[16] user @ZoeRoseBryant on July 11th, 2023, who tweeted an old video of Chalamet dancing with the caption, "Timothée Chalamet doesn’t have silly guy energy ?" gaining roughly 50,000 likes in less than a day (shown below).

Timothée Chalamet doesn’t have silly guy energy ? pic.twitter.com/fCgR7U0Frd https://t.co/ST6QWdRmEx

— Zoë Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) July 11, 2023

Similar discourse about the trailer and Chalamet's acting surfaced on Reddit, such as a post to /r/movies^[17] on July 11th, which gained roughly 9,500 upvotes in one day. One of the top comments was from Redditor^[18] all_die_laughing who also questioned Chalamet's "eccentricity," writing:

I was intrigued to see what Chalamet could do with this but it seems…off. Eccentricity is a difficult thing to portray in films I think, I always think to do it well the actors themselves have to be a bit off the wall otherwise it comes off a bit forced.

Similar discourse surfaced in the comment sections of viral Instagram^[19] and Facebook^[20] posts.