Paddington director Paul King is close to helming the Willy Wonka reboot, as THR has reported that he is the final negotiations with Warner Bros. This would reunite King with Paddington producer David Heyman. King currently has Paddington 2 in theaters, which has made over $200 million worldwide.
Last October a deal had been struck between Warner Brothers and the Roald Dahl Estate for the intellectual property rights and they plan to make a film about the character. Sources have revealed that this will not be an origin tale, but rather some sort of tale about his early adventures. The script was written by Simon Rich (The Secret Life of Pets), with David Heyman (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them) as producer and Kevin McCormick is serving as executive producer. Author Dahl wrote two books about the character, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator.