Yahoo Finance Willy Wonka prequel movie adds The Lion King star
Keegan-Michael Key has signed up for Charlie and the Chocolate Factory-inspired prequel Wonka.
Key, who voiced Kamari in the 2019 reboot of The Lion King, will be playing an unspecified role in the movie, Deadline reports.
He will be starring alongside Oscar-nominated Call Me By Your Name actor Timothée Chalamet, who has been cast as the young Wonka, and he'll apparently be singing and dancing on screen as part of the role too, so that should be great to see.
The story is based on famous characters created by much-loved author Roald Dahl, with the prequel movie focusing on chocolate maker Willy Wonka's younger years, before he opened his legendary factory.
It will be the first time that Willy Wonka has been brought to the big screen without young Golden Ticket winner Charlie Bucket featuring, which will be interesting for fans of the Willy Wonka world.
Paddington director Paul King is set to direct the movie, and he has also written the screenplay alongside Horrible Histories star Simon Farnaby.
Related: Dwayne Johnson reveals Tim Burton considered him for Willy Wonka role
Harry Potter's David Heyman is producing via his Heyday Films, with Luke Kelly and Alexandra Derbyshire also producing and Michael Siegel executive producing.
Speaking back in 2018, Heyman explained the movie while speaking to Collider: "We are still trying to figure out how to tell that story, what the story is. It's a prequel, it's not a sequel.
"What makes Willy? When we find him at the chocolate factory doing the golden ticket, where is he before that? What leads him to that place where he's locked himself away? It's how does he get there? So we're playing around with that."
Wonka will be released in cinemas on March 17, 2023.
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