New York, NY (Top40 Charts) WaterTower Music is enchanted to announce today's release of Wonka (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) with delectable original music performed by Timothée Chalamet in the title role, along with the movie's phenomenal ensemble cast, including Hugh Grant, Calah Lane and Keegan-Michael Key, and many others. The score features all-new music from acclaimed composer Joby Talbot ("Sing," "Sing 2," "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy") and songwriter Neil Hannon ("The Divine Comedy"). The soundtrack is available for streaming and on CD now with vinyl coming in 2024. "Wonka" opens in theaters and in IMAX internationally beginning 6 December 2023 and in North America on December 15, 2023, and is distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
Director Paul King says: "Right from the start I knew I wanted Wonka to be a companion piece to the 1971 movie for which Anthony Newley and Leslie Bricusse wrote such extraordinary, enduring songs as Oompa Loompa and, of course, Pure Imagination.
Our movie is set 25 years before theirs, in the late 1940s instead of the early 1970s, and I wanted new songs that could capture the spirit of their writing, as well as a flavour of our setting—the golden age of the Hollywood musical. And so I turned to Neil.
Neil Hannon is an extraordinary songwriter. I've loved his band The Divine Comedy ever since I knew they existed. His writing is funny and tender, witty and emotional, and I knew he could write contemporary songs that would sit alongside the Bricusse / Newley classics and channel the spirit of Roald Dahl's world.
Composer Joby Talbot has taken Neil's themes and woven them seamlessly into his score, ensuring the songs land brilliantly when they come, and that they resonate throughout the movie. It's such an impressive piece of work, building mood, underlining emotion, and creating a truly satisfying whole."
Composer Joby Talbot says: "I hadn't met Paul King before, but was a big fan of his previous work, and having heard that my old band mate and long-ago/long-time collaborator, Neil Hannon, had written the songs, I was naturally very intrigued to learn more about the project when I got the call to go into the cutting room for an initial chat. On seeing the movie, I was instantly struck by the originality and completeness of the world building and realized that my two main points of focus would be supporting and enhancing the world building and narrative, and embedding and setting up the songs. Paul's positive reactions to my initial ideas encouraged me to come onboard…The film is set in a slightly unspecified time and place, which gave me as the composer a wonderful degree of license with how to reflect the world in the music. Visually, it's a feast, so we didn't hold back…I'm hugely proud of the finished film and the work my team and I did on it. The hardest part—as with any movie with songs—was to create a musical environment in which the songs could live, while at the same time having the score do the required narrative heavy lifting. Paul King is a director who puts music front and center, and I'm grateful that he gave me so much room to really explore the musical possibilities of the beautiful and exciting world he created."
Songwriter Neil Hannon says: "I feel so lucky to have been a small part of this wonderfully warm and funny film. To be allowed to stir some of my own imaginative ingredients into Paul's fantastical recipe is one of the honours of my life. To get to work with my old friend and collaborator Joby Talbot again was a joy, and reminded me of what a genius he is. And for my humble songs to share the stage with two Newley-Bricusse classics I grew up adoring, is something I could only have dreamt about. But then every good thing in this world started with a dream!"
Wonka (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) is now available digitally for streaming / purchase.
The tracklist is as follows:
Pure Imagination (Opening Titles Version) - Joby Talbot
A Hatful of Dreams - Timothée Chalamet & The Cast of Wonka
Welcome to Scrubbit's - Joby Talbot
You've Never Had Chocolate Like This (Hoverchocs) - Timothée Chalamet
Flying Chocolatiers - Joby Talbot
Scrub Scrub - The Cast of Wonka
Wonka's Case - Joby Talbot
Sweet Tooth - Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton & Keegan-Michael Key
Willy and Noodle at the Zoo - Joby Talbot
For a Moment - Calah Lane & Timothée Chalamet
The Letter 'A' - Joby Talbot
Clock Tower - Joby Talbot
You've Never Had Chocolate Like This - Timothée Chalamet & The Cast of Wonka
Oompa Loompa - Hugh Grant & Timothée Chalamet
A World of Your Own - Timothée Chalamet & The Cast of Wonka
Sorry, Noodle - Timothée Chalamet
Mamma's Secret - Joby Talbot
Pure Imagination (from "Wonka") - Timothée Chalamet
Oompa Loompa (Reprise) - Hugh Grant
500 Monks, One Giraffe - Joby Talbot
Death by Chocolate - Joby Talbot
The Oompa Loompa to the Rescue - Joby Talbot
Noodle Gives Affable the Ledger - Joby Talbot
Chocolate Fountain - Joby Talbot
Based on the extraordinary, iconic character at the center of Roald Dahl's Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, one of the best-selling children's books of all time, "Wonka" tells the wondrous story of how a young chocolate-maker, armed with nothing but a hatful of dreams, manages to change the world, one delectable bite at a time.
From Paul King, writer/director of the "Paddington" films, David Heyman, producer of "Harry Potter," "Gravity," "Barbie" and "Paddington," and producers Alexandra Derbyshire (the "Paddington" films, "Jurassic World: Dominion") and Luke Kelly ("Roald Dahl's Matilda the Musical"), comes an intoxicating mix of magic and music, mayhem and emotion, all told with fabulous heart and humor. Starring Timothée Chalamet in the title role, this irresistibly vivid and inventive big screen spectacle will introduce audiences to a young Willy Wonka, as he becomes the world's greatest inventor, magician and chocolate-maker.
Starring alongside Chalamet are Calah Lane, Emmy and Peabody Award winner Keegan-Michael Key, Paterson Joseph, Matt Lucas, Mathew Baynton, Oscar nominee Sally Hawkins, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Carter, with Oscar winner Olivia Colman and Hugh Grant. The film also stars Natasha Rothwell, Rich Fulcher, Rakhee Thakrar, Tom Davis and Kobna Holdbrook-Smith.
Simon Farnaby & Paul King wrote the screenplay, based on a story by King and characters created by Roald Dahl. Michael Siegel, Cate Adams, Rosie Alison and Tim Wellspring are serving as executive producers. King's behind-the-scenes creative team includes director of photography Chung-Hoon Chung, Oscar-nominated production designer Nathan Crowley, editor Mark Everson, Oscar-winning costume designer Lindy Hemming and composer Joby Talbot. Neil Hannon of the band The Divine Comedy wrote the original songs for the film.
Warner Bros. Pictures Presents, in Association with Village Roadshow Pictures, a Heyday Films Production, a Paul King Confection, "Wonka," set to open in theaters and in IMAX internationally beginning 6 December 2023 and in North America on December 15, 2023; it will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures.
JOBY TALBOT (Music by) is one of the most diverse composers working today. His career spans classical concerts, ballets, operas and scores for film and television. In addition to numerous orchestral commissions, Talbot's work as a leading dance composer includes "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," "A Winter's Tale" and most recently, "Like Water for Chocolate," all in collaboration with the renowned choreographer Christopher Wheeldon. His most recent opera, commissioned by the Dallas Opera, "The Diving Bell and The Butterfly," is based on the memoir of journalist Jean-Dominque Bauby, which was also the subject of the 2007 film directed by Julian Schnabel. Talbot's latest film score is for the upcoming "Wonka," reuniting Talbot with songwriter Neil Hannon—both members of the band The Divine Comedy. His other film credits include both of the scores for Illumination's "Sing" franchise, "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," "Hunky Dory," "Is Anybody There?," "Penelope" and "Son of Rambow."
NEIL HANNON (Original Songs by) is best-known as the songwriter and driving force behind the band The Divine Comedy. Over 12 albums (and counting), his trademark orchestral pop, intelligent lyrics and legendary live shows have turned him into something of a national treasure.
Born and raised in Northern Ireland, Neil Hannon signed his first record deal aged 19. His first albums "Liberation" and "Promenade" were critically acclaimed, but it was 1996's "Casanova" and lead single "Something For The Weekend" that brought widespread fame. Then in 1998, "National Express" became the band's most beloved and highest charting single. Two decades later and the critically acclaimed album count is at 12, with songs like "Our Mutual Friend," "A Lady Of A Certain Age" and "To The Rescue" joining the pantheon of Hannon's most renowned work. Last year, the group's longevity was confirmed when "Charmed Life, The Best Of The Divine Comedy" reached no.5 in the UK album chart.
Neil Hannon has written extensively outside of The Divine Comedy. His work for theatre includes a musical adaptation of "Swallows and Amazons" for the Bristol Old Vic, which has since become a perennial favourite both in the UK and internationally. His classical pieces "To Our Fathers In Distress" and "As The Sun Brightens, The Shadows Deepen" were recently performed in Belfast by the Ulster Orchestra and recorded by the BBC for broadcast in 2024. He contributed songs and score to 2022's found-footage sci-fi film "LOLA," and has written original songs for the forthcoming Warner Bros. Pictures' film "Wonka," starring Timothée Chalamet.
Neil lives in County Kildare, Ireland with wife Cathy Davey and a large quantity of rescue animals. He is currently writing a new Divine Comedy album.
