Gene Wilder: Wonka Remake is All About Money  6/1/05

Movie funnyman Gene Wilder has attacked Tim Burton's choice of Johnny Depp to play Willy Wonka in upcoming film Charlie and the Chocolate Factory as a money-making ploy.

Wilder, who played Wonka in the original 1971 film Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, is suspicious of movie moguls' motives for remaking the Roald Dahl fantasy, and sees it as "pointless".

He says, "It's all about money. It's just some people sitting around thinking 'How can we make some more money?' Why else would you remake Willy Wonka?

"I don't see the point of going back and doing it all over again.

"I like Johnny Depp, and I appreciate that he has said on record that my shoes will be hard to fill. But I don't know how it will all turn out."

Despite Wilder's reservations, Burton insists his film will be closer to the original Dahl novel, than Wilder's musical version.