Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (film) Elfman contributed to a film score using written songs and his vocals. Filming took place from June to December 2004 at Pinewood Studios in the United Kingdom. "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" was released to positive critical reception and was a box office success, grossing $475 million worldwide. Charlie Bucket (Freddie Highmore) is a poor boy who lives near the Wonka Candy Company. The company's owner, Willy Wonka (Johnny Depp), has for long closed access to his factory due to problems concerning industrial espionage that led him to fire all his employees, among them Charlie's Grandpa Joe (David Kelly). One
Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory to buy the rights to the book and finance the picture for the purpose of promoting a new Quaker Oats "Wonka Bar". David L. Wolper and Roald Dahl agreed that the film would be a children's musical, and that Dahl himself would write the screenplay. However, Wolper changed the title to "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory". Screenwriter David Seltzer conceived a gimmick exclusively for the film that had Wonka quoting numerous literary sources, such as Arthur O'Shaughnessy's "Ode", Oscar Wilde's "The Importance of Being Earnest", Samuel Taylor Coleridge's "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" and William Shakespeare's "The Merchant