Gene Wilder, the original Willy Wonka, is the subject of two upcoming documentaries

Maybe it's just the "Wonka" effect, but Gene Wilder is getting a lot of closeups in 2024.

The Milwaukee-born actor who brought the fantastical chocolatier to life in the beloved 1971 movie "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory" is the focus of two new documentaries in motion at the moment.

"Remembering Gene Wilder," which had a local screening last fall as part of the 2023 Milwaukee Jewish Film Festival, was picked up for worldwide distribution this week by arthouse distributor Kino Lorber, Deadline.com reported Thursday. The movie, by Ron Frank, includes home movie footage, interviews with collaborators including Mel Brooks and Carol Kane, and touches on his growing up in Milwaukee, his marriage to Gilda Radner and his spending his final years dealing with Alzheimer's disease.

Wilder, whose memorable movies range from "The Producers" and "Bonnie and Clyde" to "Young Frankenstein" and "Silver Streak," died in 2016 at age 83.

There's another Wilder documentary in the works as well.

Chris Smith, who studied film at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and made the award-winning, Milwaukee-centric documentary "American Movie," is working with Wilder's nephew, filmmaker Jordan Walker-Pearlman, on a movie about the writer and actor from his perspective. According to IMDb.com, the untitled movie is in post-production.

Smith won his first Emmy last week for outstanding cinematography for a nonfiction program for the surfing docuseries "100 Foot Wave." Smith, who's also executive producer on the show, has been a prolific producer and director of nonfiction and documentary fare in recent years, including "Tiger King" and "Fyre."

Neither Wilder project has a theatrical release date yet.

All this is coming as "Wonka," the musical prequel to the Willy Wonka story, continues an impressive run at the movie box office. Despite early protests from Wilder loyalists about the project, the movie starring Timothée Chalamet has taken in $469 million worldwide so far, and has been No. 1 at the box office three of the four weeks it's been in theaters, according to data compiled by Box Office Mojo.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Gene Wilder, the original 'Wonka,' is subject of two new documentaries