‘Not A Remake’: Simon Farnaby Reacts To Mean Comment About Wonka

The much-anticipated film Wonka from the rich universe of Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is earning praise from around the world. The musical fantasy film has Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka and the star-studded ensemble cast of Calah Lane, Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Olivia Colman, and Hugh Grant. The box office hit, directed by Paul King, is about the early days of Willy Wonka, one of the main characters from Roald Dahl’s book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. However, many people seem to have the misunderstanding that the film is a remake of the 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Actor and comedian Simon Farnaby, who co-wrote the movie with director Paul King, has been clarifying that Wonka is not a remake in response to posts about the film.

Recently, Farnaby responded to a mean post about his film. The post said, “I wish they’d quit trying to remake Willy Wonka … the original was perfect.” In response, Farnaby wrote, “It’s not a remake.”

This is not the first time that Farnaby has clarified this position.

Commenting on Farnaby’s repeated clarifications about Wonka not being a remake, an X user wrote, “Why do people keep saying it’s a remake like I understand it’s got Wonka in the name but if you watch the film you will see it’s not if you listen to the people who have watched you will hear it’s not and if you listen to the writers like Simon you will know IT IS NOT A REMAKE.”

Another person wrote, “Poor Simon is going to get so fed up with saying this. Educate yourselves people!” Praising the film, an X user wrote, “Three adults and two nine year olds went to see it yesterday. It’s brilliant. We loved it. And listened to the soundtrack in the car on the way home.”

Even though it has been less than a month since Wonka was released, director Paul King has been talking about making a sequel. While in conversation with Total Film magazine, King said, “There’s an awful lot more Wonka story that we have that we would like to tell. It’s not like Dune: Part One where you go, ‘This is what’s happening in Part Two.’ Hopefully it works exquisitely as a stand-alone movie. But I would definitely like to do more. And I’d like to spend more time in this world, and meet some more Oompa Loompas.”