Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film) critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A–" on an A+ to F scale. Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" praised "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", writing "Johnny Depp as Willy Wonka may be a stone freak, but he is also one of Burton's classic crackpot conjurers, like "Beetlejuice" or "Ed Wood"." Roger Ebert gave an overall positive review and enjoyed the film. He was primarily impressed by Tim Burton's direction of the younger cast members, but was disappointed with Depp's performance: "What was Depp thinking of? In "" he was famously
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film) The purchase was finalized in 1998, with Dahl's widow, Felicity ("Liccy"), and daughter, Lucy, receiving total artistic control and final privilege on the choices of actors, directors and writers. The Dahl Estate's subsequent protection of the source material was the main reason that "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" had languished in development hell since the 1990s. Scott Frank was hired to write the screenplay in February 1999, after approaching Warner Bros. for the job. Frank, a recent Oscar-nominee for the R-rated crime film "Out of Sight", wanted to work on a film that his children could enjoy. As an enthusiastic