Overview
- Netflix released a trailer on June 30 that confirms Wonka’s The Golden Ticket will premiere on Sept. 23 with a two-part finale on Sept. 30 and features an AI-generated narration evoking Gene Wilder.
- The streamer says the AI voice was produced in partnership with ElevenLabs and approved by the Gene Wilder Estate, which issued a statement from Karen B. Wilder endorsing the project.
- Wonka’s The Golden Ticket is a nine-episode unscripted competition filmed on Australia’s Gold Coast with 12 Golden Ticket winners and chosen partners competing in games, tests and temptations for a single grand prize.
- The trailer release set off broad online criticism that the AI recreation feels uncanny and may breach ethical lines, renewing industry concerns about consent, creative integrity and the risk of displacing human performers.
- The series is part of Netflix’s ongoing strategy using Roald Dahl properties since its 2021 acquisition of the Roald Dahl Story Company and adds to recent examples of licensed AI voice work such as recreations tied to Michael Caine and Stan Lee.