Although it is October and your month will likely be dominated by horror movies, it seems other people are really enjoying a specific Johnny Depp movie.
The 2005 film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, which Depp starred in as Willy Wonka, is in the top five movies on HBO Max today. The movie sits at No. 4 internationally, behind Mean Girls, Peppermint, and A Nice Girl Like You. It is ahead of well-known films such as Tenet, The Fast and the Furious, The Notebook, and The Hangover.
An adaption of the Roald Dahl novel of the same name, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is somewhat polarizing among fans of the franchise. It differs significantly from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, the now-famous 1971 film starring Gene Wilder as Wonka.
In the newer film, Depp’s Wonka is much darker and much more diva-like than Wilder’s portrayal. The 2005 movie also much more closely followed the source material, centering around a young child named Charlie who finds a ticket to tour Wonka’s factory. Once there, Charlie, his grandfather, and the other children and their parents experience misfortune in the factory.
Unlike the first movie, which critics and fans alike seemed to love—it holds a 91 percent Tomatometer rating and 87 percent Audience Score on Rotten Tomatoes — Depp’s performance and the newer movie as a whole have not been as well-received from fans. Despite its 83 percent Tomatometer rating from more than 200 critics, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has only a 51 percent Audience Score.
You can decide for yourself if you’re a fan of the newer movie and Johnny Depp’s performance. It is available via HBO Max and Hulu.