Another entry in "films no one, absolutely no one, asked for". Warner Bros just keeps tripping over itself. And up against the Chicken Run sequel for the same weekend.
Streaming releases are still competition. Pay out the wazoo on tickets/drinks/snacks to go to the theater VS a home premier as part of an ongoing subscription, bits from your own pantry, and readily paused for bathroom breaks or otherwise. Loads of people avoid the theater since the movie will show up on X service in a few weeks. Wild times.
This is a prequel so it's a new side of the story. My bigger problem with this is that it just looks really bad. The performance falls really flat and feels desperate to invoke whimsy, but it's failing badly at it.
For real, who seriously had the thought “you know what, we need another adaptation of that one book from decades ago. We could try adapting some of that guy’s other work, but why bother? I know we tried the goofy, fun spin and the dark, gritty spin, but I’m sure we missed an angle on that one kid’s book.”
More importantly how did the guy who had that thought not get kicked out of the pitch meeting immediately?
We could try adapting some of that guy’s other work, but why bother?
In recent memory Matilda, The Witches , and The BFG have all had unnecessary reboots. I'll bet a James and the Giant Peach is next.
If anything, it's time to leave his material alone now. there are enough new children's books and stories written all the time, surely they deserve a shot?
Yes sir, I do. But I thought this time we'd do an old movie instead of a new movie because old movies usually make more money.
Oh, remaking old movies for money is tight. It's also literally the only thing we do here.
That's right. So I think we should really go back this time and pull out something the audience wants to see. Something with tons of nostalgia for adults, but also something the younger audience will care a lot about.
I don't think we have the money to remake Star Wars again so soon.
Nah, I thought we'd just do another Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
What got me was the accent he is using. It seems to keep switching all depending on the dialogue he is giving, which I found kind of distracting but maybe it’ll be better in the actual film? Who knows, I do think he is a talented actor and I really loved the first two Paddington movies so maybe this will turn out.
It feels like he's desperately trying to be whimsical but is awkward and unnatural at it so his performance feels super fake. If you're going to make a Wonka movie then Wonka's performance matters more than anything else.
Well I'm usually a cold hearted cynic, but I'm glad to see more musicals in theatre. RRR really showed the appetite for competent dancing in film, and I'll die happy if I live to see anyone half as talented as Gene Kelly.