Despite mixed reviews before its premiere on Friday, the new Warner Brothers release “Wonka” performed well at the box office over its opening weekend, bringing in $39 million.
The fantasy musical stars Timothée Chalamet as the titular star. “Wonka” is based on the 1964 novel “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” by Roald Dahl. That book was made into a movie, “Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory,” in 1971 and was later remade in 2005 with Johnny Depp playing Wonka.
This newest film version is a little different because it explores the origin story of Willy Wonka and serves as a prequel to the original film.
“Wonka” cost $125 million to make. Industry insiders consider the weekend’s box office results promising as films released in December tend to keep performing well during the holiday season.
“‘Wonka’ has the right tone for the holidays and momentum is…
