Tim Burton Toyed With The Idea Of A Dwayne Johnson Willy Wonka Film
Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is one of the most powerful men on the planet. From his obvious traits, like his insane physique and charisma, to his more mysterious abilities, like how he somehow knew about Osama Bin Laden's death before almost anybody else, it's no wonder people were not unseriously throwing his name around as a presidential candidate.
When Johnson isn't busy changing the hierarchy of power within the DC Extended Universe, he makes insane amounts of money by starring in tons of movies. He's the sort of electric performer who it's easy to give any part to, whether it be the singing demigod Maui in "Moana" or the literal tooth fairy in "Tooth Fairy." Maybe not all of his movies are cinematic masterpieces, per se, but they all have The Rock in them, which is certainly a point in their favor.
According to a post from Johnson's Instagram in 2020, he was once considered for another seismic, but very surprising, film role. In the post, Johnson says that he was considered for the role of Willy Wonka in director Tim Burton's 2005 film "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory." While it's extremely difficult to imagine the timeline where Dwayne Johnson played Willy Wonka in that movie, especially when you consider the eventual casting of Johnny Depp, it definitely opens the mind to some very entertaining images, like The Rock delivering The People's Elbow to an Oompa-Loompa.
Into the Wonkaverse
In the post, Johnson talks about showing his kids one of his favorite movies, the 1971 "Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory." Naturally, this leads The Rock down memory lane, where he recalls the opportunity he almost got from Burton.
"Some cool history – back in the early 2000's, iconic director, Tim Burton had considered me to play Willy Wonka in his remake, 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.'
I remember thinking 'HOLY S**T, I'M 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.
The role, of course went to Johnny Depp, who at that time was the biggest star in the world.
The rest was history."
While it's fun to imagine him calling Mike Teevee a jabroni, it's probably for the best that Johnson wasn't cast in the film, which underwhelmed critically, especially compared to Burton's other works. But still, heavily considering Johnson before he was even a real established movie star showed some innovative thinking on Burton's part.
With the upcoming "Wonka" giving us Timothée Chalamet as Willy Wonka, maybe we can hope for some sort of Wonka multiverse movie down the line where Chalamet, Depp, Johnson, and an uncanny Gene Wilder deepfake team up to crush the Oompa-Loompas' attempt at unionizing or something.