The Netflix top 10 can be highly predictable at times, and titles can appear out of nowhere for no apparent reason. This latest addition to Netflix’s huge list is a little of both, with Charlie and the Chocolate Factory grabbing the number 10 slot in the streamer’s list of top 10 movies.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, directed by Tim Burton, was released in 2005 and is the second adaptation of Roald Dahl’s children’s classic. It stars Freddie Highmore as Willy Wonka and Johnny Depp as a quirky version of the character.
Depp has been in the news a lot recently because of his continuing defamation case against ex-wife Amber Heard, which could explain why the film has broken into the top ten. However, it’s not one of Depp’s most well-known roles, nor is it one you’d connect with him.
The film succeeded well at the box office, collecting about $475 million on a budget of $150 million, making it Burton’s second-highest grossing film after Alice in Wonderland. However, based on over 250,000 ratings, the audience score on Rotten Tomatoes is a dismal 51 percent. Meanwhile, the critics’ score is a far more respectable 83 percent.
EW termed the picture “popular but divided” in the years after its premiere, while Variety dubbed it “everlastingly polarising.” Similarly, Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka in the 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, was harsh and seemed to believe the film was a cash grab.
Roald Dahl was known to dislike the 1970s adaptation, and was particularly dissatisfied that Wonka, rather than Charlie, was the main character. Wilder was selected over the British comic Spike Milligan, which the author preferred.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, released in 2005, is a far more authentic version of Dahl’s original novel, but it does include certain modifications. It gave Wonka a long backstory, which ruined some of his mystique, as well as a strange dislike to children. Given Wonka’s willingness to give up his factory to them, the latter decision seemed unusual.
So don’t anticipate a shot-for-shot replica of the 1971 film if you haven’t seen it before. This isn’t one of those films.