Unlocking the Magic of Wonka: Exclusive Talk With Director Paul King

Hey, I'm Alison with FlickDirect. Hello, how are you today? Thank you. How are you? I'm good. Tell me why we needed this version of Willy Wonka. Oh, well, need is a funny thing in a film. I'm sure you'd survive without it. It's not like water or oxygen. I felt there was a story to be told. And Willy Wonka is a character who I loved as a child. And he's a character that Roald Dahl kept coming back to throughout his career.

And it's the only book he wrote a sequel to. And he was always exploring kind of the other avenues for him. It felt like he was aware of his life beyond the kind of confines of Charlie. And he sort of wrote short stories and their sort of various ideas. And obviously, that's the stories baked into Charlie itself. So it felt like he was a character that Dahl wanted to explore in a kind of wider capacity and to be kind of given the keys to that magical kingdom.

And that extraordinary source material was just such an honour. It was the first story that the Dahl family had ever sanctioned beyond kind of makes of the books. So it was such an incredible opportunity that I felt you'd be crazy to turn it down. You get to stand on the shoulders of one of the great storytelling giants of all time. Yeah, absolutely.

What do you think he would say now that the film is it's still in theatres, by the way? Absolutely. It's amazing. He is still in theatres and still still finding an audience, which is beautiful. I mean, I hope he would be happy, but I suspect he would have notes. I suspect you'd be right. Let's go back to that for a second, because it is so rare to have a movie that is still in theatres that is now going to be coming out for home entertainment.

What does that feel like for you? What does that mean for this particular movie and maybe even the industry as a whole? Well, I think it's I think it's wonderful. I mean, I think it's great when people find your film no matter no matter where it is. But undoubtedly a family film, you know, especially a sort of holiday festive family film like this.

My dream was for people to discover it in theatres and to experience it with their families. And that's I think is a very special thing. And I love to make films that can be enjoyed by people who are seven or 70. You know, it's not sort of just for kids and it's not just for grownups. It really is hopefully to be enjoyed by everyone together. And that that communal experience is is really special.

And I think especially in something which has a lot of music and sort of has that kind of at the heart of it, that there's a kind of element of like going to a gig as well. And I think in a way, it's almost more enjoyable when you know the songs before you go in, which is is always the way it works with musicals. But I think the more known they become, probably the greater joy.

And I've had so many reports of people going back to it second, third, fourth time and just loving it. So it's been a great honour. Yeah, I've been listening to the soundtrack as I'm doing work at my desk, just because it's a really, really great soundtrack. Yeah, absolutely. Since we're talking about the home release, when you prepare for a film and when you're shooting the film, do you ever think about the home release at all?

I mean, I don't think specifically, but I do think the way we kind of shoot movies nowadays, it's very sort of it's very TV based. I mean, you know, back in the day when people would shoot on film, the first time they'd see it would be when you project the dailies in the cinema. And it was very kind of cinema focused. Now everything's got these extraordinary 4K monitors on set.

So in a way, my first experience of the movie is in a is in a is, you know, is on a TV. I think that hopefully the movie works just as well. Yeah, it's a great regardless of where you watch it. Very quickly, what did you have to do to bribe Hugh Grant to become an Oompa Loompa? Well, I mean, I was lucky enough to work with Hugh on Paddington 2. And I know that he has a very good, a very strong lack of self vanity.

He's the least vain man on the planet. So I think after Phoenix Buchanan, the only thing I could make him look more ridiculous. So it was a very quick and easy conversation. And I don't know what I'll have to do to him next. I can't wait to see that. He was perfect. Thank you so much. And I hope more audiences get to enjoy Wonka because it's a phenomenal film.

Oh, thank you so much. That's very kind. Thank you. Hit like, smash subscribe and get notified for whenever reviews, interviews and news go live. (Music) [BLANK_AUDIO]