Netflix is giving its Wonka animated movie Charlie and the Chocolate Factory a 47-day theatrical window
Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory opens wide worldwide on November 5, 2027 and won’t reach Netflix until December 22. Sony Pictures handles international distribution, and the voice cast includes Taika Waititi as Willy Wonka.
Netflix has never done this with an animated film.
Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory opens in theaters globally on November 5, 2027, then arrives on the service December 22. That’s a 47-day exclusive theatrical run, and Sony Pictures Entertainment is handling international distribution.
Netflix doesn’t usually do theatrical runs.
What Netflix has done before with animated releases
Klaus, I Lost My Body, and Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio got limited awards-qualifying runs. Leo played free screenings at about 150 U.S. locations.
KPop Demon Hunters topped the domestic box office on a single-weekend engagement, but that came weeks after the film had already blown up on the platform.
Charlie is being positioned as a theatrical release from the start.
Netflix’s other 2027 theatrical windows
Greta Gerwig‘s Narnia: The Magician’s Nephew gets a 49-day window from February 12, 2027, hitting Netflix April 2, with select IMAX screenings starting February 10. That release will carry box office reporting, a first for a Netflix film.
La Bola Negra, from Cannes co-winners Javier Ambrossi and Javier Calvo, gets 47 days starting October 16.
David Fincher‘s untitled Cliff Booth film with Brad Pitt runs two weeks in IMAX from November 25 before a December streaming drop.
Box office will be reported for Charlie as well, though who publishes the numbers hasn’t been settled.
What Charlie vs. the Chocolate Factory actually is
It isn’t a remake. It’s a sequel.
Willy Wonka has been in prison for turning a child into a blueberry. He gets out and returns to the factory. Standing in his way is Charlie Paley, a new character living in present-day London who plots to break in and steal a priceless chocolate bar to stop his family from being evicted.
Taika Waititi voices Wonka. Kit Connor plays Charlie Paley, with Nicola Coughlan, Charithra Chandran, Samson Kayo, Christopher Chung, Kate Winslet, and Helena Bonham Carter filling out the cast.
Jared Stern and Elaine Bogan direct. Sony Pictures Imageworks is animating.
Connor recently made the news this week for being cast as Cyclops in Marvel’s X-Men.
The merchandise is already lined up
Netflix has a global deal with the Ferrero Group, and it starts this fall, more than a year ahead of the film.
Ten seasonal and limited-edition Wonka products across chocolate, sugar confectionery, ice cream, and cereal, launching in the U.S. plus the U.K., France, Italy, and Germany. Moose Toys is the master toy partner, with its line arriving closer to release.
Brad Bird‘s Ray Gunn, meanwhile, still has no theatrical plan announced.
Article compiled with the help of the Pirates & Princesses newsroom.
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Hat Tips:
Netflix release announcement and Tudum synopsis (August 2026), the dates, the window, the full voice cast, and the Ferrero and Moose Toys partnerships
Deadline (August 12, 2026), the theatrical window details and the comparison to La Bola Negra and Narnia
Screen Daily (August 12, 2026), the box office reporting question and the Narnia window figures
Cartoon Brew (August 12, 2026), Jamie Lang’s reporting on Netflix’s prior animated theatrical history and the Ray Gunn question
TheWrap (August 12, 2026), the full cast announcement and the Annecy preview context