New Willy Wonka movie will reportedly focus on the chocolatier’s early adventures

Warner Bros. is reportedly developing a new Willy Wonka film that will focus on the earliest adventures of Roald Dahl’s most famous character.

According to a report from Variety, the film is being produced by David Heyman, who worked on the Harry Potter franchise and the upcoming Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. Unlike Tim Burton’s 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which starred Johnny Depp as Wonka, the new movie won’t even mention Charlie.

The film is being described as a look into the adventures from Wonka’s early life that shaped who he became, but it won’t be an origin story. Although it’s unclear if any of the characters from Dahl’s book will make an appearance in the film, if the reboot is a hit, it opens the door for a possible franchise.

Lately, Warner Bros. has become home of various franchises. It’s not only working on [expanding] the DC Cinematic Universe with its line of stand-alone Cyborg, Flash and Aquaman movies, but also just announced that it would be turning Fantastic Beasts into a five-movie franchise. Originally, Fantastic Beasts was supposed to be a trilogy, but Rowling confirmed the extension to five films during a live Q&A for her play, The Cursed Child.

Variety also reported that the deal between Warner Bros. and the Dahl Estate has been ongoing since the beginning of the year, months before the death of Gene Wilder. Wilder, of course, made the character famous in the first Willy Wonka film from 1971.