Over on X (formerly known as Twitter), fans had some strong feelings about the fact that Warner Bros., the studio distributing “Wonka,” are hiding the fact that it’s an outright musical. “I thought Wonka was great and the marketing really didn’t do it any [favors] by hiding it’s a musical and playing up Chalamet’s quirkiness,” @still_like_this wrote. “Also lots of complaints that ‘this character isn’t like the [Gene Wilder] character’ but …it’s a prequel. The world hasn’t crushed his spirits yet!”
Another fan on X, @bugsmaytrix, agreed. They wrote, “the fact that [‘Wonka’] is a stealth musical really explains the baffling tone of every trailer i’ve seen. it’s frustrating that this is the direction marketing has chosen to go, as it leaves potential audiences put off and misleads those who actually see the thing.”
Responding to this report, @Nash_Doll had one clear message for studios: “This is INSANE. Do not do this. I went and saw Wonka last night and the first thing a group of people sitting behind me said was that they wish they [knew] it was a musical. This will kill word of mouth marketing.” As for @vexmybeloved_, they were just baffled by Warner Bros.’ choice. “Still wondering why the marketing for ‘Wonka’ didn’t lean into the musical aspect at all,” they wrote. “Did they think a musical movie wouldn’t do well? Not a critique just genuinely curious as to why they kind of tried to hide the fact that it was a musical in the general marketing.”
