Netflix Sets Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory Animated Feature

Three years after “Wonka” told the origin story of Roald Dahl’s famed chocolatier, Netflix is now turning the clock ahead past the books with a new animated feature.

“Charlie vs. The Chocolate Factory” — reuniting Netflix with Sony Pictures Imageworks, the Oscar-winning studio that introduced the streamer its most watched movie of all time in “Kpop Demon Hunters” — is a model new twist on the beloved kids’s novel, this time set in modern-day London and that includes a number of new characters.

Directed by Jared Stern (author on “The Lego Batman Movie,”) and Elaine Bogan (who directed “Trollhunters: Tales of Arcadia”), the movie stars Taika Waititi, voicing Wonka, and Kit Connor. Waititi also exec produces.

The story follows Wonka after he’s launched from jail for the crime of turning a baby right into a blueberry in the authentic “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.” Having served his time, he returns to his manufacturing unit decided so as to add a little bit sweetness to a bitter world. But one factor stands in his means: teenager Charlie Paley (Connor) and his mates. Facing eviction, this next technology of “rotten” youngsters plot to interrupt into the manufacturing unit, steal a priceless Wonka Bar and save their houses. But like many before them who enter the fantastical world of the manufacturing unit, they’re in for a bit more than they’ll 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 administrators 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!”

Connor said he was instantly caught by the early concept artwork and imaginative and prescient for the movie which captures the “spirit and heart that made the original story so special, whilst imbuing it with something so fresh and unique.”

Waititi famous that the character of Wonka was “so special” to him, including that the “opportunity to voice such an iconic, eccentric candy genius—if a little mischievous at times — is hugely exciting.”

“Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory” is produced by Oscar winner Aron Warner (“Shrek”) and Timothy Yoo (“Back to the Outback,” “Green Eggs and Ham”).

“With their singular comedic and visual flair, Jared and Elaine have concocted a delightful adventure that remains true to the spirit of Dahl’s beloved novel while imagining a brand new story that introduces this world to a new generation,” said Hannah Minghella, head of feature animation and household movie at Netflix Animation Studios. :We can’t look forward to audiences round the world to experience the magic and mayhem for themselves when the movie comes out next 12 months.”

The movie is latest project to return from the Dahl universe since Netflix secured rights to the writer’s total catalogue of IP when it acquired the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021. Last 12 months, it launched the animated “The Twits” feature, a spin-off from the e book, while in 2023 it launched Wes Anderson’s quick movie “The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar” and in 2022 launched “Matilda the Musical.” It’s next project is again in the world of Wonka with the competitors sequence “The Golden Ticket,” impressed by “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.”

“Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” has been translated into practically 60 languages and is the best-selling Roald Dahl e book in more than 25 nations worldwide.