A live-action movie for “Pinocchio” will reportedly be part of Disney’s re-workings on their animated classics. This new movie will be following the live-action versions of “Dumbo,” “Beauty and the Beast,” “Mulan,” and “Winnie the Pooh.
According to Deadline, the live-action version of “Pinocchio” will be “loosely based” on the classic. Although the movie will still focus on a father-and-son relationship, the report stated that it will not necessarily turn out to be an adaptation of Disney’s animated film.
For instance, the classic story, “The Adventures of Pinocchio,” which was written by Carlo Collodi, was set in 1883 but Screen Rant pointed out that the live-action film might have a different time setting.
To date, nothing much has been revealed about the upcoming live-action Disney film. When word about it first came out, rumors about Tim Burton directing it surfaced. Working with Burton was allegedly going to be the “Iron Man” star himself, Robert Downey, Jr. According to the rumor mill, RDJ was chosen to portray two roles, Geppetto and Pinocchio.
Soon thereafter, rumors that Ben Stiller was going to direct the film also surfaced. However, there has been no news about this particular project for a long time now.
It would appear that this approach to the famous classics from Disney was spear-headed by “Cinderella,” which actually stayed very true to its animated roots. Despite not changing much in the fairy tale’s actual storyline, it was met with a lot of positive critique.
Toying with the tale’s storyline might not be inherently wrong but Disney might want to rethink plans of overhauling too much with the live-action film of “Pinocchio.” After all, “Cinderella” kept its original story and turned out to be successful. Hopefully, Peter Hedges, the writer of “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape,” will not apply a lot of changes to the magical marionette’s story.
There were also rumors that Guillermo del Toro will be directing a stop-motion film for “Pinocchio.” With his signature directorial touch, it will most likely be a much darker and more macabre take on the marionette’s tale. However, it appears that del Toro opted to prioritize “Pacific Rim 2” which means that “Pinocchio” will have to be shelved for the time being.
It must be noted, however, that this upcoming live-action “Pinocchio” film is actually not the first one. Disney had brought the wishful marionette’s story both to toon and live-action versions several times in the past.
