In a piece of rather scrumdiddlyumptious news, multiple outlets are reporting that Hugh Grant has joined Warner Bros. Pictures’ forthcoming Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel Wonka.
Grant has already been spotted on set, but it is now being reported that he will be playing some part in the origin story of the Oompa-Loompas, possibly even as one of Wonka’s diminutive workforce.
Golden Globe winner Grant has been busy of late, completing filming on Guy Ritchie’s Operation Fortune: Rue de guerre, and signing up for the latest roll of the dice on a Dungeons & Dragons adaptation.
Wonka will reportedly “focus on a young Willy Wonka and his adventures before opening the world’s most famous chocolate factory.” The film will take place before the events of the novel and is described as a “vivid, mythical beginnings of the imaginative young inventor before he becomes the renowned scrumdiddlyumptious Mozart of chocolate.”
The film, directed by Paddington’s Paul King, and will star a roll-call of delicious treats that includes Timothee Chalamet, Olivia Colman, Hugh Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Sally Hawkins, Keegan-Michael Key, Jim Carter, Mathew Baynton, Tom Davis, Simon Farnaby, Rich Fulcher, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Paterson Joseph, Calah Lane, Matt Lucas, Colin O’Brien, Natasha Rothwell, Rakhee Thakrar, and Ellie White.
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Wonka is set to arrive in cinemas on March 17, 2023.