Charlie and The Chocolate Factory (lost unreleased Michael Jackson soundtrack for Tim Burton film; 2005)

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Poster .jpg

The film's poster.

Status: Lost

Charlie and The Chocolate Factory is a 2005 film adaptation based on the Roald Dahl book of the same name. It follows Charlie Bucket winning one of the five Wonka Golden Tickets to visit his factory. However, during production, famous singer Michael Jackson created a soundtrack for the film that wasn't released or used in the film.[1]

Background

In early 2003, during the production of Charlie and The Chocolate Factory, a director was still being sought for before Tim Burton was chosen to be its eventual director, and various actors were considered the role of Willy Wonka before Johnny Depp was given the role. Some of these actors were as follows:

  • Bill Murray
  • Christopher Walken
  • Steve Martin
  • Robin Williams
  • Nicolas Cage
  • Jim Carrey
  • Michael Keaton
  • Robert De Niro
  • Brad Pitt
  • Will Smith
  • Mike Myers
  • Ben Stiller
  • Leslie Nielsen
  • three members of Monty Python (John Cleese, Eric Idle, and Michael Palin)
  • Patrick Stewart
  • Adam Sandler

Though never approached or discussed for the role, Michael Jackson actively sought the role and made a soundtrack at a small studio in Los Angeles. Whilst Michael Jackson's life is a perpetual source of controversy, songwriter, singer, and entertainer, he had been interested in becoming an actor. Owing to his distinctive appearance and persona, he continued to pursue an acting career, even taking acting lessons from actor Marlon Brando, who was a good friend of Jackson's.[2][3]

Michael Jackson then presented the soundtrack to Warner Bros. along with the offer for the role. Even though they liked the soundtrack, they didn’t agree it was a good idea to give Jackson a leading role in a kids' film (a possible reason is the CSA allegations contributed to this). They offered a smaller role for Jackson, but he refused, and when Michael Jackson was denied the role, he angrily stated:

If I can't have the part, they're not getting the soundtrack.[4]

Michael Jackson then shelved the soundtrack and never gave permission to use it anywhere.[5]

Ironically, despite the movie ending up not having any participation by Michael Jackson, Johnny Depp's performance as Willy Wonka has been compared to Michael Jackson many times by viewers and critics. However, both Depp and Burton denied Jackson's influence on the role.

Availability

The soundtrack has never been released and possibly never will, although it’s still likely it is somewhere out there.

See Also

External Links

References