Not to be confused with Guillermo del Toro’s long-awaited stop-motion version of the classic Pinocchio story for Netflix, the Pinocchio news of today is an update on Disney’s long-awaited live-action take on its 1940 animated version. Famed Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis is now said to be “in talks,” per Variety, to helm the film.
The last nugget we got on Pinocchio came almost a year ago, when Tom Hanks was considering playing Geppetto, the wood carver who creates the puppet that becomes Pinocchio. Though today’s Variety report on Zemeckis (who is not the first director to circle the project) notes that the actor has since passed on the role.
There are currently no hints as to who might be in the running to play Geppetto, Pinocchio, the Blue Fairy, or any of the other characters—including Jiminy Cricket, who’s long since become a Disney icon in his own right. But if you have any suggestions feel free to leave them in the comments!
Interestingly enough, del Toro and Zemeckis just worked together on an unrelated project: the Zemeckis-directed, del Toro-produced adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches, which was first adapted back in 1990 in a version that’s since become a skin-peeling cult classic.
Del Toro’s Pinocchio is due in 2021; there’s no timeline yet for Disney’s new take. The Witches will be in theaters next October.
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