Taika Waititi To Helm ‘Charlie And The Chocolate Factory’ Series’ For Netflix

Taika Waititi Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Netflix

Netflix announced Taika Waititi has closed a deal to write, direct and executive produce two animated series’ based on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

The first of these two animated series will be based on the world and characters featured in Roald Dhal’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The second project will be a completely original take on the fictional workers at Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory, the Oompa-Loompas.

As Netflix explained, the Taika Waititi series will retain the tone and spirit of Roald Dhal’s original Charlie and the Chocolate Factory story while also “building out the world and characters far beyond the pages of the Dahl book for the very first time.” Melissa Cobb, Netflix vp of original animation, made the following statement on why Taika Waititi is the perfect filmmaker to tackle Roald Dhal works:

“I grew up reading Dahl stories and lived large parts of my young life in those magical worlds, so finding just the right creative partner to bring Willy Wonka, Charlie and the Oompa-Loompas to life in animation was a daunting task…until Taika walked into the room. Then, it was really obvious. If Dahl had created a character of a filmmaker to adapt his work, I’m pretty sure he would have created Taika.”

Gideon Simeloff, commercial and entertainment director of the Roald Dahl Story Company, added that Taika Waititi has a “creative flair” perfectly suited for adapting Willy Wonka for Netflix:

“In the words of Willy Wonka himself – we are ‘Delighted! Charmed! Overjoyed!’ with Taika’s appointment on this project. There is something undeniably Wonka-esque about Taika’s creative flair and inimitable sense of humor and we cannot think of anyone more perfectly suited to leading the creative charge on these first of their kind, feature quality Netflix shows.”

Netflix had closed a deal with the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2018 and Taika Waititi’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory “animated event series” are only the first steps the streaming service is taking to adapt the author’s works. In addition to Taika Waititi’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory projects, Netflix is seeking high-profile names to adapt stories such as Matilda, The BFGThe Twit, and more.

Taika Waititi’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory series will mark the third time the story and characters from Roald Dahl’s book have been adapted for the screen. In 1971, Paramount Pictures released Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, a musical starring Gene Wilder as the eccentric chocolate maker. In 2005, director Tim Burton helmed another adaptation featuring Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka, which received positive reviews but is not nearly as beloved as the original Gene Wilder version.

Stay tuned to Heroic Hollywood for the latest news on Netflix and Taika Waititi’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory series’ as it develops.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

Sebastian Peris

Sebastian Peris

Canadian film buff, political junkie, comic book geek, and board game enthusiast.