Taika Waititi is the perfect choice to lead Netflix’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
By Renee Hansen
Netflix announced that Taika Waititi has signed on to direct, write and executive produce two animated series based on Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Taika Waititi is the next person to use his unique creativity to retell Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
This time, Netflix picked up the rights to some of Dahl’s beloved classics and plans to adapt them into animated shows. Waititi has signed on to direct, write and executive produce these projects. With his flair, he should fit right in with Dahl’s imaginative world of Willy Wonka and his Oompa Loompas.
According to Netflix, he will create two separate animated projects. One will focus on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory while the other will be an original story centered around the Oompa Loompas. Perhaps, this could be an origin story.
Netflix posted on Twitter to make the announcement.
There have already been two movie adaptations of the book, one starring Gene Wilder and another starring Johnny Depp each playing the role of chocolatier Willy Wonka. The movies were made 34 years apart, and besides the fact that they were filmed very differently, they both took different liberties as far as the story goes.
Waititi is very gifted at making things a bit more interesting and fun, so it will be exciting to see what he comes up with for these two projects, especially since they will be animated.
Waititi is a hot commodity right now after winning an Oscar for JoJo Rabbit, as well as his work on Thor: Ragnarok and the upcoming Thor: Love and Thunder. He also directed the finale of The Mandalorian and works on What We Do In the Shadows, which airs on FX.
According to a report from Deadline, Netflix and The Roald Dahl Story Company have formed a partnership to reimagine quite a few of Dahl’s stories including Matilda, The BFG, and The Twits. Lovers of Dahl should be quite excited for what comes from this partnership.
Stay tuned for more news about Waititi’s new projects. We will keep you posted on the progress!