It's possibly one of the most memorable film sets of all time, particularly if you were a kid when you first saw it - but what if Willy Wonka's Chocolate Factory was real? And what if you could ... gulp... actually buy it?
The factory first dreamed up in Roald Dahl's book and brought to life on the big screen courtesy of Gene Wilder in Mel Stuart's 1971 film remains a figment of our imagination - but someone has worked out how much it would cost in real life - and it's bad news for mere mortals.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but if you were to invest in the chocolate river, the fizzy lifting drink laboratory, the upkeep of the geese that lay golden eggs and not forgetting the Oompa Loompas, who make the whole place tick, it'd set you back $224.6m (€182.7m). The flying glass elevator alone would cost $109 million.
That's according to the calculations of Advanced Technology Services, who have broken it down into categories including the Oompa Loompas’ salaries ($73.4m) and healthcare ($8.1m), edible wallpaper ($2,652), a golden goose egg ($6,032) and the chocolate river ($32.7m).
That's without mentioning the annual energy costs of $2 million to mimic the balmy climate of Loompaland.
They do mention that the total company worth would be a whopping $21.5 billion, however, considering Wonka is almost as recognisable a global brand as Cadbury - which was bought in 2010 for $19 billion.
Sorry to crush your dreams, folks - but basically, you couldn't afford it. Now, back to the film, you go. (Not the Johnny Depp one, though - don't torture yourselves further).
