Oscar-winning filmmaker Robert Zemeckis is officially on board for Disney’s live-action remake of its animated classic Pinocchio. He’ll direct, and co-write the next draft with Chris Weitz for a possible year-end production start.
While no release date has been set for Pinocchio, Disney has several dates reserved for untitled live-action features between 2021 & 2023. The Pinocchio remake has taken a relatively long and bumpy road to the screen. The project was first announced in 2015 and at one point director, Sam Mendes was attached as well as Paul King, director of Paddington. In 2018 it was announced that Tom Hanks was in talks to play Geppetto but no word if Hanks is still attached to the current project.
The original 1940 Disney animated classic film follows a wooden puppet, his father-creator Geppetto and the former’s quest to become a real boy. The news of the live-action adaptation comes on the heels of Disney also announcing that they will be making a live-action adaptation of their classic, Bambi.
Zemeckis is currently directing an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches starring Anne Hathaway and Octavia Spencer which set to be released on October 9.
