WONKA Nears $500M at Global Box Office
By Movieguide® Contributor
WONKA is continuing to make an impact at the global box office.
“The international cume to date is $301.2M with global at $465.8M, well on the way to $500M+ in the coming weeks,” Deadline reported.
The family-friendly musical explores how Willy Wonka became the eccentric chocolatier of CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY fame.
Part of Movieguide®’s review reads:
WONKA is a colorful fantasy that tells how Willy became Willy Wonka. Before she dies, Willy’s mother tells him that every good thing started with a dream. Willy goes to the big city to sell his chocolate, which was inspired by his mother. However, three large chocolate makers try stop anc even kill Willy. Also, an evil landlady takes his money and forces him into servitude. Also, there’s this little orange man with green hair named Oompa Loompa who demands Willy repay his tribe for the three cocoa beans Willy took.
WONKA is a very fun, funny movie, one of the most entertaining movies of the year. There are many fun and memorable songs throughout the movie, which makes it a delight to watch. WONKA shows good triumphing over evil through the magic of joy and great dreams. It also supports the little entrepreneur starting his own little business in the face of a government-sanctioned cartel. However, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older pre-teens because the cartel has bribed the police and a cathedral and its clerics with chocolate they can’t resist.
Timothée Chalamet, who stars as the titular character, shared why he took on the role.
“To work on something that will have an uncynical young audience, that was just a big joy. That’s why I was drawn to it,” he told Vogue. “In a time and climate of intense political rhetoric, when there’s so much bad news all the time, this is hopefully going to be a piece of chocolate.”
It seems that the light-hearted flick has drawn audiences to it as well. WONKA topped 2023’s final box office weekend, earning “an estimated $24 million Friday through Sunday and $31.8 million factoring in estimates for the Monday holiday,” per AP News.
The movie followed that success by securing the No. 1 spot at the box office during the first weekend of 2024.
“In its fourth week in theaters, WONKA brought in $14.4 million, beating out the supernatural thriller NIGHT SWIM, which gathered $12 million during its opening weekend. AQUAMAN AND THE LOST KINGDOM ($10.6 million) and MIGRATION ($10.25 million) battled for third as both crawled just over eight digits in their third week in theaters,” Movieguide® reported.
Chalamet thanked his fans for making the movie a success. “WOWWWW – actually can’t believe this!! What a week! Thank you to everyone who saw WONKA in theaters this past weekend,” he posted on Instagram.
“I’m living my dreams today. I’m very grateful,” he told Vanity Fair. “My dream is to continue to work and for good health for my family.”
Movieguide® previously reported on WONKA:
Timothée Chalamet is opening up about his role in WONKA and why it was one of the most challenging projects he’s worked on so far.
“This was the most physically challenging project I’ve ever done,” the actor told Vanity Fair. “I can’t say the singing and dancing comes easy. I’ve been around musical theater my whole life, and danced a little bit in high school, but this was on a different level.”
Chalamet said that “it’s different doing it on film,” explaining that there are rehearsals, multiple takes and the need to stay in the center of the camera’s frame.
“It was a big challenge,” he concluded.
Co-star Keegan-Michael Key praised Chalamet for his performance in WONKA, saying, “Working with Timothée was amazing. Watching him transform into Willy Wonka was something else, because he moved differently than he does in real life. His cadences, the way he spoke, he really transformed into Willy.”
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