Warner Bros. & Harry Potter Producer David Heyman Plan New Willy Wonka Movie

Warner Bros. had medium success with Tim Burton’s 2005 take on Charlie & The Chocolate, but a lot more success with the London stage version of Roald Dahl’s tale. It feels there’s more life in Willy Wonka, as it’s been announced that Warner has snapped up the screen rights to the character and plans to make a new movie, according to Variety.

It is perhaps surprising, as while the Dahl estate has allowed various filmmakers to make movies based on his popular stories, they have generally kept fairly tight control on the rights so people can’t go too far from the original tales. However, with this new film they seem to feel confident enough with the studio and with Harry Potter producer, David Heyman, who’s also onboard, to allow them go well beyond the Dahl’s written words. Admittedly they’re not completely letting go, as Michael Siegel from the writer’s estate will produce as well.

They will be going into Wonka’s pre-Charlie, with the suggestion being that they won’t use any particular parts of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory or Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator to inspire the script. That said, the most logical storyline would be Wonka’s worldwide travels looking for the perfect chocolate, which also saw him meeting the Oompa Loompas, but they may end up going in a different direction.

Simon Rich is writing the script for the movie, which it appears Warner Bros. is hoping can become a franchise.