Disney are just spewing out these live-action remakes.
A live-action action remake of Pinocchio, one of Disney's first ever feature-length films, released in 1940, was announced back in 2015, but there hasn't been many developments reported since.
Now it would seem they have a director in early talks – none other than Sam Mendes.
Mendes directed the Oscar-winning American Beauty and also helmed the last two James Bond outings, Skyfall and Spectre.
Mendes was previously attached to direct Disney’s live-action remake of Roald Dahl's James and the Giant Peach – according to Variety, he's no longer directing it. He is also attached to an adaptation of the graphic novel My Favorite Thing is Monsters at Sony, as well as an adaptation of the best-selling novel Beautiful Ruins for Fox 2000.
He is currently committed to his West End production The Ferryman and as a result, hasn't been able to meet with studio execs yet.
Additional details for the new Disney movie are scarce though reportedly Peter Hedges (Pieces of April, Dan in Real Life) is penning a script loosely based on the original story.
Disney's line-up of live-action remakes also includes Niki Caro's Mulan, Tim Burton's Dumbo, Jon Favreau's The Lion King and Guy Ritchie's Aladdin, among many others.
Guillermo del Toro is also working on an adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s classic children's novel Pinocchio, but knowing his stuff, this is likely to be a darker take on the story than Disney's. There's also a version of Pinocchio in the works at Warner Bros with Robert Downey Jr. to star as Gepetto and Paul Thomas Anderson attached to direct.
