In a weird casting "what-if," Dwayne Johnson revealed that director Tim Burton almost gave him the golden ticket to play Willy Wonka in 2005's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.
Johnson shared this revelation on Instagram after showing the original Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory starring Gene Wilder to his kids for the first time. "They loved it and now fully expect me to deliver a room full of chocolate and candy," he wrote before noting that Burton briefly considered him as Wonka for his modern-day remake of Roald Dahl's iconic children’s book.
"I remember thinking 'HOLY SHIT, IM IN.' But that was many years ago when I was just starting out in Hollywood with no foundation of global box office strength or any real acting experience to even pull it off," Johnson continued, adding that the role eventually went to Burton's longtime collaborator Johnny Depp. "The fact that Tim even considered me (albeit I'm sure he considered for all of 7 seconds:) sure meant a helluva lot to me as I was just breaking in to the business with no idea what the future had in store," he reminisced.
Burton's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which starred Depp and Freddie Highmore, did receive positive reviews at the time of its release. However, 1971's Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Wilder's performance as the iconic candy factory owner continues to remain the most iconic take on this story. Despite Dahl disowning the film due to certain story changes, Willy Wonka received positive reviews and later developed a strong cult following thanks to regular television broadcasts.
Jojo Rabbit director Taika Waititi is currently set to write and direct two animated Charlie and the Chocolate Factory series for Netflix. One show will be based on the characters and world of Dahl's novel while the other will center on the Oompa-Loompas who run Wonka's chocolate factory. No release date for these shows has been announced yet.