Timothée Chalamet reveals take on Roald Dahl’s eccentric chocolatier in first Wonka trailer

Star-studded film is set to tell ‘the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today’

Warner Bros has released the highly anticipated first trailer for Wonka starring Timothée Chalamet as the titular chocolatier created by Roald Dahl.

The Paul King (Paddington) film serves as a prequel to Dahl’s 1964 children’s novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which follows competition winner Charlie Bucket on a tour of Willy Wonka’s magical chocolate factory.

“Wonka tells the wondrous story of how the world’s greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker became the beloved Willy Wonka we know today,” the film’s official logline reads.

“Quiet up and listen down... nope, scratch that, reverse it,” Chalamet’s Wonka humorously tells a crowd of onlookers in the trailer.

We see him endeavouring to open up a chocolate shop with the help of Calah Lane (The Day Shall Come) against the whims of the “chocolate cartel” – an executive group of other chocolate makers.

Besides Chalamet, it’s an exceptionally British cast starring Matt Lucas, Olivia Colman, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter (Downton Abbey), Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Water), Mathew Baynton (Gavin and Stacey) and Paterson Joseph (Peep Show).

Also teased for the first time is Hugh Grant’s Oompa Loompa – one of the tiny, green-haired orange people who work at Wonka’s chocolate factory.

Timothée Chalamet in ‘Wonka’ (Warner Bros)

In the book, the characters were depicted as African pygmies – an offensive element that was changed for the 1971 film adaptation starring Gene Wilder.

Grant teases the Oompa Loompas’ famous song from the 1971 film in the new trailer, telling Wonka: “Too late, I’ve started dancing now. Once we’ve started we can’t stop.”

Chalamet recently spoke to Vogue about his decision to take on the iconic children’s character.

“To work on something that will have an uncynical young audience, that was just a big joy. That’s why I was drawn to it,” he said. “In a time and climate of intense political rhetoric, when there’s so much bad news all the time, this is hopefully going to be a piece of chocolate.”

Wonka also stars Keegan-Michael Key, Natasha Rothwell, Tom Davis and Simon Farnaby alongside Peter Joseph, Rich Fulcher, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Colin O’Brien, Rahkee Thakrar, Ellie White, Murray McArthur and Tracy Ifeachor.

Wonka will be released in cinemas on 15 December.