The fantastical world of pure imagination originating from Roald Dahl‘s book, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory saw a new side with last year’s Wonka. Written and directed by Paul King, the movie was a prequel that told the origin story of the eccentric chocolatier, Willy Wonka. As an original story, never told in any of the books, audiences were understandably apprehensive about how King’s iteration would turn out, but upon release, the prequel was sweetly received by audiences and critics alike. King had always craved to tell more Wonka stories, even before the prequel’s release. The possibility was naturally hinged on Wonka’s success and now that he’s successfully served audiences a well-received piece of his imagination, the BAFTA-nominated filmmaker has begun whipping up fresh ingredients for a sequel.

King is busy promoting his latest work, the recently released (in the UK) live-action animated adventure, Paddington in Peru. King, who wrote and directed the first two films in the Paddington universe, provided the story for the latest installment along with Simon Farnaby and Mark Burton. At the movie’s premiere, he chatted with Hey U Guys and shared a progress report for the Wonka sequel, revealing that he’s halfway into drafting an initial script. Though he emphasized that the movie was still in its early stages of development, King further shared that he’s got the full idea of where the sequel should go, teasing a globetrotting adventure that will see Wonka embark on an international voyage. He said:

“We’re very early, I mean we’ve got about half of a draft. So, we’ve got a story that we like, and we know where we want to take him. I’ll try to get some international travel in it . So maybe that’s the only tease I’ll give. But hopefully, I’ll get some air miles off this one.”

What Can We Expect From a ‘Wonka’ Sequel

Wonka decidedly set up the Gene Wilder-led Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, as the prequel ended with Wonka finally fulfilling his dreams of owning his own establishment. King intends to continue telling a unique story with the sequel but set in a world that will closely resemble what is already familiar to audiences. Like the prequel, the sequel will depict a fresh story not seen in any of the books, as revealed by King in an earlier interview where he said:

“There’s an awful lot more Wonka story that we have that we would like to tell. It’s not like Dune: Part One where you go, ‘This is what’s happening in Part Two.’ Hopefully, it works exquisitely as a stand-alone movie. But I would definitely like to do more. And I’d like to spend more time in this world, and meet some more Oompa Loompas.”

Wonka starred Timothy Chalamet in the titular role, and while no casting has been made for the sequel, Chalamet would likely reprise the role.

via Collider