Picture Credit: Netflix
During the headline Netflix Animation Showcase at Annecy, audiences were treated to a massive surprise when Netflix Animation Studios’ Hannah Minghella took the stage to unveil a brand-new, work-in-progress look at an upcoming project set in the Willy Wonka universe. First unveiled this April and officially known as Charlie vs. The Chocolate Factory, this is definitely not your grandparents’ version of the classic candy-coated tale.
Instead of a whimsical musical about good behavior, Netflix is serving up a gritty, darkly comedic heist movie. Here is a complete breakdown of everything revealed during the presentation, including details from the teaser work-in-progress footage!
The Premise: The Ultimate Candy Heist
The exclusive teaser clip immediately set a drastically different tone for the franchise, opening with a scene of Charlie actively mugging someone on the street in Central London! This Charlie isn’t the lucky, wide-eyed optimist we remember. He and his friends are living in dire poverty and are on the verge of being thrown out onto the street. “Charlie, what’s this all about? We’re getting evicted,” one of his friends asks, prompting Charlie to reveal his desperate master plan: “Wonka’s got a priceless candy bar in there.”
Fuelled by a deep hatred for Wonka, Charlie and his scrappy crew (which has a strong resemblance to the crew that was just unveiled for Ghostbusters) decide to pull off the ultimate score. “So, we’re going to rob the factory, right?” a crew member asks. “I mean, I reckon it’ll take a good month for us to plan this whole thing out.” Charlie, however, is deeply confident in their break-in, assuring his team, “Relax, mate. He will never see us coming.”
Read Next
Ricky Gervais’ Netflix Series ‘Alley Cats’ Gets Big Laughs at Annecy Plus Everything New We Learned
A Pariah Wonka and Redesigned Oompa Loompas
So, where is Willy Wonka during all of this? According to the new lore, the eccentric chocolatier has just gotten out of prison and is now a total pariah.
Despite his disgraced status, Wonka still believes he can make the world a better place, telling himself, “I started this mess. I should finish it.” It appears Charlie and Wonka cross paths during the heist, leading to a tense negotiation where Charlie demands, “Now remember, we’ve got a deal. My friends get out, safe and sound.” To which Wonka ominously replies: “I can do safe or sound.”
The footage also gave us a look at the Oompa Loompas, whose designs have been completely overhauled and are no longer human in this iteration, but rather scores of little round ball creatures that uncurl to resemble creatures that seems to be developed with the Minions in mind. When Charlie’s crew encounters them, one character panics, “They’re real! What is it doing?”
“Silently judging you,” comes the deadpan response from Wonka, who is towering over them.
The dark, British humor of the project was front and center throughout the entire clip. In one particularly hilarious exchange referencing the fates of the children from the original story, a character marvels, “Look at him! It turned the little boy into a bloke, mate!” only to be corrected with: “Actually, it was a little girl. The boy drowned.”
Production Status & Release Date
Before rolling the unfinished footage—which featured placeholder voice acting—Minghella gave the audience a detailed update on the film’s production timeline.
She noted that the film will feature “a new adventure, original songs, and a feast of new characters, and some surprising returns.” For those curious about how far along the animation is, the two directors confirmed that the team currently has “approximately 50% of our rough layout complete, about 35% animation, and 10% lighting.” It’s unclear when that footage was recorded, though.
As a result, the clip shown to audiences was a real mix of completed shots, a few early animatics, and first pass 3D (with characters clipping through geometry). In the few fully completed shots, the movie was incredibly colorful with the lighting being superb.
Because the animation process is still in the thick of it, fans will have to wait a little while to see Charlie try to rob the chocolate factory. Minghella officially confirmed that Charlie vs. The Chocolate Factory is slated to hit Netflix globally in 2027.
Are you excited for a dark, heist-comedy spin on the Willy Wonka universe? Let us know your thoughts on Charlie vs. The Chocolate Factory in the comments below.
