Matthew Warchus will direct the new Chitty Chitty Bang Bang with a script from Edna Walsh, EON Productions and Amazon MGM announced Thursday.
Warchus is best known as the director of 2022’s Matilda the Musical and 2014’s Pride. Walsh is known for 2024’s Small Things Like These.
Originated as a bedtime story by Ian Fleming (written for his son Casper), Chitty Chitty Bang Bang book was adapted into a screenplay by Roald Dahl, Ken Hughes with Richard Maibaum in 1968. The film — today a beloved classic — starred Dick Van Dyke and was directed by Hughes. The titular song, by the Sherman Brothers, earned an Academy Award nomination.
The new film is in early stages of development, EON and Amazon said Thursday. In the original movie, Van Dyke played the widowed inventor Caractacus Potts and his two children, Jeremy (Adrian Hall) and Jemima (Heather Ripley). Together with the heiress to the Scrumptious candy empire, Truly Scrumptious (Sally Ann Howes), Potts repairs an old racing car with magic — flying! — abilities. Cubby Broccoli produced, with production design by Ken Adam.
The movie also received a Broadway adaptation in 2005, and starred Raúl Esparza as Potts.