A divisive Tim Burton adaptation is surging on streaming two decades after its original release. Burton is a two-time Oscar nominee who is known for creative and frequently macabre works including Beetlejuice, Pee-wee’s Big Adventure, Edward Scissorhands, and 1999’s Sleepy Hollow.
While many Tim Burton movies are original stories, he has helmed a fair number of adaptations as well. This includes 2010’s Alice in Wonderland (a Disney live-action remake that grossed more than $1 billion), 2007’s Sweeney Todd (an adaptation of the 1979 Stephen Sondheim musical), and an earlier movie that has found new life on streaming.
Charlie And The Chocolate Factory Is A Netflix Success
2005’s Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has now landed on a major Netflix chart. The Tim Burton movie was an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s 1964 children’s book of the same name, which had previously been adapted into the 1971 Gene Wilder movie Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.
The 2005 version starred Johnny Depp as eccentric chocolatier Willy Wonka and became a hit, earning $475.8 million against its reported $100 million budget and becoming the eighth highest-grossing movie of the year worldwide. However, it was divisive for a variety of reasons, including its inclusion of a backstory for Wonka that was not present in the original story.
However, in addition to finding success in theaters, the movie is surging on streaming. On the daily Netflix chart of the most-watched movies in the United States, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has appeared at No. 9, just five days after it first arrived on the platform on September 1.
It has snuck onto the chart above the current No. 10 тιтle, the animated hit Shrek the Third. It shares space on the chart with a number of hit movies that are Netflix originals, including KPop Demon Hunters (No. 2), The Thursday Murder Club (No. 4), and Unknown Number: The High School Catfish (No. 1).
What This Means For Charlie And The Chocolate Factory
What this streaming success may reveal is that the 2005 movie has arrived at a time that is much friendlier to its core elements. In addition to 2023’s Wonka helping make the property a H๏τ IP in the 2020s, Tim Burton has had a major resurgence in recent years with projects including the Netflix series Wednesday and the legacy sequel Beetlejuice Beetlejuice.
While Charlie and the Chocolate Factory has almost certainly benefitted from the fact that Wednesday season 2 part 2 debuted on September 3, its Netflix success is not isolated. The Tim Burton movie was previously available on Max (now HBO Max), where it charted in the Top 10 in January 2025, showcasing the movie’s general appeal in the modern age.
