11 Unmade Movie Adapatations That Were Just Weird

It’s surprising that nobody has tried to jump on the idea of a Roald Dahl cinematic universe yet since, although the stories are mostly separate, there are small nods to Dahl's other works in some of his books. Which brings us to October 2016 when Warner Bros did announce plans for more Roald Dahl movies, starting with a Willy Wonka prequel, and with the possibility of a franchise about the character.

What makes this weird (even for a Dahl adaptation) is that there’s not really a need for a Willy Wonka backstory, and that trying to go deeper into it already clogged up the Tim Burton adaptation with clunky flashbacks interrupting the action. And all you need to know about Wonka is that he’s a brilliant lunatic with no regard for employment or health and safety laws. It’s pretty simple.

Adding to the weirdness is that this would have been a straight-up reboot with no connection to either the Gene Wilder or Johnny Depp versions of the character. Essentially trying to do a franchise spun-off from Charlie And The Factory without actually adapting Charlie And The Chocolate Factory first.

But since the first announcement of this adaptation was made a year-and-a-half ago and nothing has been heard of it since then, it looks like we might have to do without riveting tales like “Willy Wonka Gets A Bank Loan”, “Willy Wonka And The Health Inspector”, and “Willy Wonka And The Ten Year Prison Sentence”.