'Wonka' Director Compares Timothée Chalamet’s 'Beautiful' Singing Voice to Bing Crosby

Wonka director Paul King is comparing Timothée Chalamet’s singing voice to Bing Crosby’s.

The movie stars Chalamet, 27, as he showcases his singing skills playing the role of chocolatier Willy Wonka. 

In a recent interview with Total Film magazine, King, 45, described the actor’s singing voice as “beautiful," comparing it to the late singer, who sang the classic 1942 rendition of “White Christmas.”

"[Chalamet]’s got a beautiful singing voice," King told the outlet. "The person it reminded me of was Bing Crosby.”

“There’s quite a range, because it does go from a couple of bigger, showstopper-y sort of things to moments of real, pure emotion, and he can do it all…,” he added. “I’m going to sound like a crazed fan."

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The director added that he didn’t want the movie to “become a musical where people are singing dialogue to each other for no discernible reason.” Therefore, King said Wonka “is more like a movie with songs than a musical.”

Wonka is a prequel inspired by Roald Dahl’s 1964 book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The first Charlie and the Chocolate Factory movie debuted in 1971, with another version in 2005. 

The late Gene Wilder played the role of Willy Wonka in 1971, while Johnny Depp stepped into the shoes for the second iteration, directed by Tim Burton.

The new film "tells the story of a young Willy Wonka, who comes to an uptight European center of chocolate with all these very fancy chocolate shops that sell candy at sharply inflated prices," King told PEOPLE in July. "He brings this riot of color and energy and the future, and a lot more joyous sense of it." 

King also said Chalamet was a "phenomenal actor" and brought "heart to the role."

Wonka is in theaters Dec. 15.