Paul King’s “Wonka” is being released this coming Friday. It’s one of the last notable major studio offerings of the year, and I’ve been wondering, ever since the trailer was released, if there was an actual audience for it.
Early weekend tracking for “Wonka,” starring Timothee Chalamet, says it’s headed for an opening in the $35 million range. The film’s budget is said to be around $125 million. Are these good numbers? I don’t think they are exceptional.
Warner Bros must be hoping that word of mouth will carry it through the holiday season and turn it into a hit. Notice, the trailers didn’t even give the slightest of hints that “Wonka” is a musical — it’s sly marketing, but it also means that audiences will be buying a ticket for this one unaware that characters break out in song and dance. Per Variety:
Warner Bros. produced “Wonka,” which carries a production budget of $125 million, not to mention tens of millions more in marketing and distribution spending. The hope is that “Wonka” shows some staying power, enticing family audiences over the holiday period, when it will face off against Illumination and Universal’s “Migration,” which is also trying to lure younger crowds. The good news is that films that screen towards the end of the year as schools go on vacation often stick around in theaters, showing more momentum than movies that bow at other times in the calendar.
The marketing from Warner Bros. Pictures has been heavy, with multiple trailers, well over a dozen different poster designs. It does help that the film has been fairly well reviewed by critics. “Wonka” is 83% fresh. On Metacritic, it has a 68 Metascore.
Don’t count me as a fan. I thought “Wonka”, and Chalamet’s performance, fell completely flat. The story being told is strenuously icky. It tries, really hard, to be charming and playful.
What you’ll get with “Wonka” is something safe and family-friendly. A whimsical tale about a young man who wants to open a chocolate shop. It bears no resemblance to 1971’s “Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,” which had Gene Wilder‘s now iconic performance.
“Wonka” was released overseas last week and did decent numbers, amassing $43 million during the 3-day weekend. There seemed to be some interest in it.