New Study is Horribly Bad News for Timothée Chalamet’s ‘Wonka’
Timothée Chalamet’s Wonka is a musical fantasy film released in 2023 that has taken the world by storm. It tells the origin story of the famous Roald Dahl character Willy Wonka from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The character has previously appeared twice on the big screen with two iconic actors, Gene Wilder and Johnny Depp, portraying the role in the greatest fashion that cemented Willy Wonka’s place in pop culture forever. Recently, Timothée Chalamet has reprised the iconic role, and everyone is flocking to theaters to see his take on the classic character.
However, there is one study that revealed some concerning information about musicals that can be horribly bad news for the movie.
New study results of people hating on musicals can be detrimental to Wonka
Warner Bros. Wonka is doing pretty well for itself with high critics’ scores and box office collections. It has already managed to snag an A- on CinemaScore and, according to some estimates, a staggering $40 million in the opening. From the outside, it might look like it is a great win for musicals, especially after the genre faced some defeats in post-Covid times. However, it may not be as nice and dandy as it looks.
Also Read: Everything to Know About Wonka – Upcoming Timothee Chalamet Movie Has Riled Up Johnny Depp Fans
According to a new study by Deadline, the test audience still hates musicals. So, the only way to get them into theatre is by tricking them. One would notice that Wonka’s marketing was intentionally vague to underscore its musical nature. If the test audience is tricked into watching the film and they end up liking it, it becomes a huge win for the studio on the musical. It is also the same reason why Lionsgate was not keen to focus on the beautiful country songs that Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes had while marketing the movie.
Timothée Chalamet was “very fun” on Wonka set
According to a recent interview of Calah Lane with The Hollywood Reporter, Timothée Chalamet was very fun to be around on the sets of the film. Calah Lane plays the role of a character named Noodle, who is a hardworking and underprivileged orphan. Lane, who already earned a Critics Choice nomination for showcasing her brilliant acting prowess in Wonka, opens up by saying that she learned a lot from Chalamet and they had a lot of fun together on set.
“Sometimes it’s hard for me to get into character. When I watched him on set, I was like, ‘Wow, he can do this really, really, really good.’ And I kind of learned from that. But he’s very fun on set. I taught him the ‘Thriller’ dance. I’m the No. 1 fan of Michael Jackson. I know everything.”
She also revealed how they would both end up eating a lot of chocolate while shooting because of retakes:
“I ate so much chocolate because we would do take after take after take. It wasn’t bad chocolate, which was good because they actually had a chocolatier on set. There was so much detail in the chocolate, and it was so great. She made all the chocolates by hand.”
The movie also stars Hugh Grant, Olivia Colman, and Keegan-Michael Key and has been critically well received as well as making big numbers at the box office.
Wonka was released theatrically on December 8, 2023.
