Wonka: The Real Reason The Timothée Chalamet Movie Wasn't Marketed As A Musical

In case you weren't aware, "Wonka" is a musical. It's definitely not being marketed that way, though.

The latest film by "Paddington" director Paul King — which stars Timotheé Chalamet as a younger version of Roald Dahl's famous chocolatier Willy Wonka — features original music performed in and written for the movie, but the average filmgoer probably has no idea. Why? Studios likely think that tricking audiences is a better idea.

According to a report about the film's opening box office haul in Deadline, studios are trying not to market their musical films as such. Apparently, because focus groups have revealed that they simply hate musicals, studios believe it's a solid plan to just pretend a movie isn't a musical and just hope audiences show up anyway. From there, one can safely assume these same studios also hope said audiences won't be pretty ticked off at, well, being tricked. The outlet notes that marketing for "The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes" largely avoided the movie's original music sung by "West Side Story" standout Rachel Zegler.

After big-budget movie musicals like "Cats" and "In the Heights" underperformed at the box office, it makes sense that studios are cautious about marketing more movie musicals. Lying by omission to filmgoers seems like an odd choice, though.

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."

As some users on X noticed, the same exact tactic is being employed for "Mean Girls," the adaptation of the Broadway musical which itself is based on the classic 2004 teen comedy of the same name. Despite the fact that this version of "Mean Girls" stars singer-songwriter Reneé Rapp (who reprises her role as Regina George from the stage musical), the trailer manages to skirt the fact that the movie is even a musical. It even goes so far as to use pop star Olivia Rodrigo's song "Get him back!" for the main trailer, eschewing any one of composer Jeff Richmond and writer Tina Fey's original numbers from the Broadway show.

Again, this did not go unnoticed. As @Tom_Nicholas put it, "Fascinated by the 'Wonka' / 'Mean Girls' marketing strategy of making a musical and then completely hiding the fact your film is a musical in all the publicity." Meanwhile, @Drako1909 wished musicals didn't have such a bad box office reputation: "#Wonka's marketing as the one for #MeanGirls omits half of the fact that they are MUSICALS. And Im so mad as a musical fan that they act like they dont sell."

"Wonka" is out in theaters while "Mean Girls" arrives in the New Year on January 12, 2024.