I mean at its core, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a surreal humourous movie with some scary moments (the tunnel scene from the original is a good example of this jfc). And while all the directors listed have made good movies (in fact tim burtons CatCF has some of my favorite darkly whimsical visuals ive seen in recent times), I'm not entirely sure they'd be the right thing for CatCF (excluding Burton of course, He's already had his run with it, And the results were pretty good).
But, as for some directors who's spins on the classic story I feel would be highly interesting..
Just for a moment, Imagine a Cronenburg (Videodrome, Naked Lunch, The Fly) CatCF. His trademark brand of psychological and body horror mixed with the bizarre whimsy of Willy Wonka could breathe entirely new life into CatCF. The Violet scene we all know and love could be something more than just a girl turning into a blueberry, Maybe something significantly more horrific. I dunno, Maybe it's just me, But I feel like it might work, And would be most certainly something I'd watch.
And if I can keep going into the realm of 'this will never happen but itd be dope as fuck', A CatCF directed by Shinya Tsukamoto (Tetsuo: The Iron Man and its respective sequels) would have some potential to outdo his infamous Tetsuo series in terms of surreal horror. Okay, Not really, But still it'd be close. For those unfamiliar with Tsukamoto (not that i blame you, his work is really unknown), His Tetsuo series all are industrial cyberpunk Body Horror movies. Think Cronenburg, But with more big metal monsters taking up the climax, Jittercam like you wouldn't believe, And the horrifying scenario of people slowly turning to metal and feeling it the entire time. Also there's a giant penis monster rampaging through Japan in The Iron Man, Make of that what you will.
However, While Tetsuo: The Iron man is about as far as you can get from CatCF, I do feel like Tsukamoto's style could be a fascinating- If drastically different, Take on the movie. His bizarre and explicitly horrifying style could make for a less whimsical and more.. well, interesting look on Willy Wonka. Besides, The movie is about some eccentric madman inviting children into his factory and inderectly causing horrible things to happen to them. Tsukamoto's style mixed with that would be amazing. For example, Augustus Gloop. In his scene, He's stuck in that big ass chocolate tube. Normally, He's freed, And gets to go home, And has a new outlook on Chocolate (keep in mind its been like, ten years since i watched the original Willy Wonka, and a few months since the Burton remake, memory might be a little fuzzy). With Tsukamoto behind the wheel, A child being stuck in a large industrial tube could turn from a silly, albeit midly unnerving scene, to a downright scary moment of anticipation. Maybe the tube starts cracking, Maybe Augustus starts melting into chocolate, Or maybe he manages to get free.. Only to be dismembered by a larger machine in the inner machinations of the factory.
Granted, I've got no clue what Tsukamoto's take on the Violet scene would be. With Cronenburg it's simple, He likes extra flesh, Just keep adding layers of blue onto her, And boom. But for Tsukamoto.. I'm honestly not sure. Maybe she'd turn into a metal ball, Idk.
Wow this went on for a lot longer than I wanted. Uh.. Have a consolation Kong.
So I was watching a video talking about the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy sequel and in the middle remembered that James Gunn also wrote and directed Slither. For the uninitiated Slither is noteworthy here because it features a very well done albiet grotesque depection of a swollen woman. It's for decidedly unsexy reasons with a hopefully equal response but it's evident that Gunn's mastery of practical effects created what would have been an ideal Violet depiction.
He's my personal pick for a remake of CatCF and it's a project I could actually see him accepting. That being said I can't see him wanting to do that world building obvious cash grab of a prequel. He has worked with an established universe with Marvel though so it could always be a possibility but I can only imagine that whoever WB signs on to direct the Wonka prequel would also be signed on for what most surely would be the sequel being CatCF. At this rate we will probably see that remake coming out around either 2020 or 2021.
Now as far as who I think would actually be the one to do it I think it would be Sam Mendes which I don't mind because he is also a favorite director of mine. He recently premiered WB's musical version of the book on the West End of which he devoted a whole year and a half of his time halting his resurgence as a film director to debut the musical. He actually mentioned it was a dream pet project of his so I imagine if WB came calling to do this new universe he would sign right up.
He already has experience working with WB and the material and he doesn't seem clogged up with future projects. I imagine minus some big director going out of their way to request the job Mendes will be WB's pick.
What would that mean for Violet's fateful scene? Well we already saw how he chose to depict it with the limits of musical theatre and it was admittingly well done. He has a knack for symbolism and popping colors so the visual spectacle will definitely be there and I imagine it wouldn't be the dark hard to see fest that Burton gave us.
For the poll I picked directors that I felt could realistically take up the mantle. It is possible for a less known director to take the job. I doubt that happens and if it does it would probably be one who is the protege of a well-known one ala David Ayer/Zack Snyder. I also changed my mind and think Guillermo Del Toro could also be a possibility but it's too late for me to change the poll, ah well. Anyway this is all speculation but discuss away and explain your thoughts!