No lie, Back To The Future‘s Robert Zemeckis is currently in talks with Disney to direct the studio’s live-action Pinocchio, according to Variety. However, a deal hasn’t closed yet as the director has only just finished production on his next picture, Warner Bros’ remake of The Witches.
The film is being produced by Andrew Miano and Chris Weitz through their Depth of Field company, and Weitz is also writing the script.
Zemeckis isn’t the first director that has been involved with the project: Paddington helmer Paul King was originally in talks for the job, but he had to leave at the start of the year for unknown reasons. Harry Potter‘s David Heyman was also on board to produce at one point, but has since moved on.
For anyone who somehow doesn’t know the tale, Pinocchio follows the adventures of a puppet who comes to life after a visit from a blue fairy. Though he is guided by his conscience Jiminy Cricket, Pinocchi often runs into trouble when his nose grows whenever he tells a lie.
The original Disney film was released in 1940 and based on the children’s novel The Adventures Of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi.
Pinocchio is one of several live-action remakes in the works for Disney, after Lady And The Tramp (which is set to hit Disney+ on 12 November), Mulan, Cruella (based on the villain from 101 Dalmatians), The Little Mermaid, Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs, Godmothered (based on the Fairy Godmother from Cinderella), Peter Pan, The Sword In The Stone, Hunchback (based on The Hunchback Of Notre Dame) and Lilo & Stitch.
As well as directing all three Back To The Future films, Zemeckis is also known for helming films like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forrest Gump (for which he won an Academy Award for Best Director), The Walk and Allied. He also helped pioneer a number of state-of-the-art performance capture techniques with his films The Polar Express, Beowulf, A Christmas Carol and Welcome To Marwen.
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