The internet still can’t get enough of Glasgow’s “Willy’s Chocolate Experience” AI-fueled disaster. While it was disappointing for the parents and children who actually attended, it’s been an endless source of hilarity to social media users for a week now.
After all, there’s nothing about it that wasn’t jaw-droppingly ill-advised. Why would you go ahead with an event when all you had were a few banners and lollipop props? Why would you give your actors a nonsense AI-generated script? And why would you present your child guests with one jelly bean each and no chocolate?! So many questions.
But perhaps the biggest question of all was, what the hell is this thing that appeared from behind a mirror and terrified a group of small children?
That is the Unknown. He does not appear in any Wonka movie, nor the book the franchise is based on, Roald Dahl’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. According to the poor soul who played Wonka himself, actor Paul Connell, the chrome-masked black-clad Unknown was simply a result of no one being bothered to come up with a proper storyline:
“The script was 15 pages of AI-generated gibberish of me just monologuing these mad things. The bit that got me was where I had to say, ‘There is a man we don’t know his name. We know him as the Unknown. This Unknown is an evil chocolate maker who lives in the walls.’
It was terrifying for the kids. Is he an evil man who makes chocolate or is the chocolate itself evil?”
But as a result of all the Willy’s Chocolate Experience memes and videos, and the general community spirit of it all, people soon got very interested in this “evil chocolate maker”. Before long, there was even fan art of him!
Against all odds, this surreal metal-faced monster has his own fandom now. And, wait for it.. he’s getting his own movie. Yes, really.
The Unknown movie announcement
The Unknown is staying in Scotland for his movie, which will be made by Scottish production company Kaledonia Pictures and titled simply The Unknown.
Kaledonia Pictures have already set up a website for the project. Drop by whatistheunknown.com and you’ll see a creepy picture and the plot summary:
Kaledonia Pictures’ feature length horror film inspired by the internet phenomenon that has taken the world by storm, THE UNKNOWN follows a renowned children’s book illustrator and his wife who are haunted by the tragic death of their son, Charlie.
Desperate to escape their grief, the couple leave the world behind for the remote Scottish Highlands – where they unleash an unknowable evil.
No prizes for guessing where the name Charlie came from.
The production company told Bloody Disgusting, “We are excited to begin production and look forward to sharing more with you as soon as possible. We are actually only a few miles from the [Willy’s Chocolate Experience] event, so it is quite surreal to see Glasgow all over social media, worldwide.”
Who’s in the cast of The Unknown?
No cast members have yet been announced for The Unknown. However, Guardians of the Galaxy actress Karen Gillan is very interested in appearing in a film about Willy’s Chocolate Experience!
“PLEASE CAST ME IN THIS” she wrote above the viral video of the Unknown scaring children. So if Kaledonia Pictures is looking for someone right now to play their title character, they’re in luck!
But what about the person who was under the Unknown’s mask to begin with? Well, in the days after the character going viral, BBC News found them. The person who’d captured the hearts of social media was a 16-year-old girl named Felicia.
Obviously, she had never expected her character to go viral, but she was very pleased about how things turned out. “Everybody loves the character and posting about it, so it makes me happy that people can see the funny side,” she said. Oh, and she revealed in the interview that she’s still got the Unknown costume. So hey—why not give her a role in the movie, people?
When will The Unknown be released?
According to Bloody Disgusting, Kaledonia Pictures is aiming for a 2024 release date for The Unknown. Although months will have passed by the time it comes out, no one is forgetting the Willy’s Chocolate Experience debacle any time soon.
(featured image: Warner Bros.)
