Depp defends ‘Chocolate Factory’ remake
Actor Johnny Depp has spoken out to defend his new movie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which lands in theatres July 15.
The film is based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name. It has been adapted once before, as 1971’s Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory.
Gene Wilder, who originated the role of the candy magnate in the 1971 version, condemned the new adaptation in a recent interview.
“It’s just some people sitting around thinking ‘How can we make some more money?’ Why else would you remake Willy Wonka? I don’t see the point of going back and doing it all over again,” Wilder told Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper.
“I like Johnny Depp, and I appreciate that he has said on the record that my shoes would be hard to fill. But I don’t know how it will all turn out. Right now, the only thing that does take some of the edge off this for me is that Willy Wonka’s name isn’t in the title.”
In an interview this week with the Associated Press, Depp struck back at Wilder.
“Somebody sent me an article where Gene Wilder said ‘Why would they remake Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?’ We didn’t remake Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, we remade [the book] Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. It’s based on the same book they based theirs on,” Depp told the news agency.
Depp said he was careful to play Wonka, who hosts a tour of his candy-making plant for a group of children, in a new way.
“I was really conscious about making sure I went to a different area than Gene Wilder,” he explained.
Many consider Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to be a classic film. Wilder’s performance was much lauded, and he went on to be one of the biggest film stars of the 1970s.
In the run-up to the release of the new movie, director Tim Burton has revealed that he added a number of his own touches to the story.
Chief among these is a series of flashbacks in which Wonka relates with his father, a dentist played by Christopher Lee. These scenes were added, Burton says, so the audience can understand what makes the off-centre Wonka tick.
Dahl’s book, as well as the first movie, are silent on the issue of Wonka’s origins.
Depp, known for his turns in movies like Benny & Joon and on television’s 21 Jump Street, also said Wilder’s criticisms about the financial motives behind the new film sound strange to him.
“Making a statement that they only made this film because of the money is a really odd statement to make from a guy who has been in the business as long as he has … all movies were made because somebody somewhere wanted a return on their dollar that they spent,” he noted.
“Ultimately, it’s a business.”
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