From KPop Demon Hunters to Charlie Vs The Chocolate Factory, Netflix has finally reversed its big-screen strategy. It's now releasing movies for the big screen before its own platform – and by a long stretch.

The upcoming animation Charlie Vs The Chocolate Factory will get the prestige treatment that KPop Demon Hunters was denied, with a seven-week exclusive theatrical release before it comes to Netflix. This seems like a smart move from the streaming giant, which has learned from its biggest animated release so far.

Netflix Animation Studios' Charlie Vs The Chocolate Factory was made possible by the platform's acquisition of the Roald Dahl Story Company in 2021. The movie will tell a new story set several years after the events of the original novel. Willy Wonka returns to his factory after doing time for turning a kid into a blueberry, and one Charlie Paley and friends plot to break in to steal a chocolate bar that could save them from eviction from their London homes.

Like KPop Demon Hunters, the animation will be the work of Sony Pictures Imageworks. Kit Connor will voice Charlie, while Taika Waititi plays Wonka. Nicola Coughlan, Charithra Chandran, Samson Kayo, Christopher Chung, Kate Winslet, and Helena Bonham Carter also star, directed by Jared Stern and Elaine Bogan.

It's interesting to see Netflix make this about-turn in its release strategy. It brings sales and helps secure big names who still see the cinema as having a prestige value over TV.