Netflixs Wonka reality show will use AI-generated voice of Gene Wilder

Netflix has announced a new reality competition show based on the beloved film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, as well as the novel it’s based on. The company is also using AI to recreate the voice of deceased actor Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka in the 1971 movie.

And people are mad.

Wonka’s The Golden Ticket (no, that isn’t a typo) will feature 12 pairs competing in a series of Wonka-themed challenges and “temptations,” which are designed to push the contestants “physically, mentally, and morally.” Judging from the trailer, the duos won’t be lucky golden ticket-wielding children accompanied by semi-responsible adults as in Roald Dahl’s 1964 story. Instead, adult ticketholders with equally adult companions will be entering Wonka’s candy emporium, which has slightly more sinister vibes than its inspiration.

Interestingly, Netflix states that only one contestant will win Wonka’s The Golden Ticket‘s “life-changing prize,” which raises questions as to how the ticket winners’ plus-ones factor in. Considering that Netflix describes the series as a “high-stakes social experiment,” it seems possible that betrayal could be on the cards.

The staff of Netflix’s fantastical chocolate factory will include an Oompa Loompa who appeared in Mel Stuart’s classic film: English actor Rusty Goffe. However, the Netflix series will also feature the AI-generated voice of Gene Wilder, who played Willy Wonka. Wilder died in 2016 at 83 due to complications from Alzheimer’s disease.

Netflix worked with AI company ElevenLabs to digitally recreate Wilder’s voice for Wonka’s The Golden Ticket, which can be heard in the series’ teaser trailer:

The project, according to Netflix, has the blessing of Wilder’s estate, with Wilder’s wife Karen stating that Wonka’s The Golden Ticket “celebrates the warmth and imagination that he brought to the role.” Even so, using AI to digitally resurrect deceased actors hasn’t been well-received in the past, regardless of whether their family or estate agrees.

Earlier this year, upcoming film As Deep as the Grave made headlines for using a completely AI-generated deepfake of deceased actor Val Kilmer in a prominent role. Kilmer died from pneumonia at 65 in April last year. Though his children consented to the film’s use of Kilmer’s likeness, reactions online were overwhelmingly negative, some calling it “disgusting and disrespectful.”

Alien: Romulus also faced backlash in 2024 for using generative AI and production effects to bring the late Sir Ian Holm back into the Alien franchise. Mashable’s Belen Edwards wrote at the time, “the result lives in the depths of the uncanny valley,” noting other films that have brought back late actors: The Flash (Christopher Reeve’s Superman) and Rogue One (Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin).

“No matter what permissions an estate may grant, a late actor cannot consent to having their likeness used in a movie,” Edwards wrote. “Doing so is an immediate violation of their personhood. In reviving them for the screen, you’re creating a performance in a film they might never have agreed to do, with acting choices they might never have made.”

Reactions to Wonka’s The Golden Ticket using Wilder’s AI-generated vocal likeness have also been scathing, with social media users labelling it “digital necromancy.”

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While he was alive, Kilmer had worked on a separate project with UK company Sonantic to create an AI speaking voice based on his old recordings. However, rather than being completely controlled by others, this was for his own use after he lost his voice to throat cancer.

Wonka’s The Golden Ticket will premiere Sept. 23 on Netflix.

​Mashable