Fans react as Hugh Grant stars as an Oompa Loompa in ‘WONKA’

Hugh Grant stars as an Oompa Loompa in ‘WONKA’. (Read More Here).

After debuting the first footage from Paul King’s Wonka at CinemaCon last year, Warner Bros showed off an extended trailer today for the Christmas 2023 release. The origins story stars Timothée Chalamet as the titular candymeister, who lands in a mid-European city (the pic was shot in London) after traveling the world perfecting his craft. “I’m something of a magician, inventor and chocolate maker,” he says.

This Wonka, as Chalamet told the CinemaCon audience in Las Vegas today, “is full of joy and optimism.” In the trailer, he is undeterred and says, “Mark my words, this is going to be the greatest chocolate shop the world has ever seen.” In a fun interaction, Wonka then comes across an Oompa Loompa, played by Hugh Grant.

Additional cast members include Keegan-Michael Key, Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman and Jim Carter. 

King is directing from a screenplay he wrote with Paddington 2 co-writer Simon Farnaby (with prior writers including Simon Rich, Simon Stephenson, Jeff Nathanson, and Steven Levenson). 

Grant’s Oompa Loompa made his debut in footage that was screened at CinemaCon 2023 in Las Vegas, but video has not been widely released online for the public. Chalamet’s Wonka discovers the orange-skinned lad in a glass case, in which Grant performs a little jig for the audience’s amusement.

The Oompa Loompa shouts to be let out of his glass case of emotion when Wonka arrives on the scene. “You’re the funny little man who’s been following me,” Wonka says.

“Working with Hugh to begin with, what a dream come true,” Chalemet said on the CinemaCon stage. “Also, as you guys saw there’s [actors] Rowan Atkinson, Olivia Colman, and Keegan-Michael Key. It’s just a dream as an American actor to be working with this dream of British actors, but that’s the first time people saw Hugh as an Oompa Loompa, right? It was a trip and for those that [saw it]. And obviously, Hugh and [director] Paul King have an extraordinary collaborative relationship. And Hugh Grant’s one of our greats, so it was a dream.”