With last year’s live-action adaptations of Aladdin and The Lion King garnering a combined $2.7 billion for the House of Mouse, Disney is not slowing down with bringing back old properties as it has begun development on a photoreal Bambi remake, as well as officially signing Robert Zemeckis (Flight) to co-write and direct a live-action Pinocchio remake. (Via Deadline)
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No director is currently set on the new adaptation of Bambi, but the script is set to be penned by Geneva Robertson-Dworet (Captain Marvel) and Lindsey Beer (Sierra Burgess is a Loser) and will see the returns of iconic characters Thumper and Flower alongside the titular fawn.
Zemeckis is currently set to co-write the script on a previous draft from Chris Weitz (Cinderella) and Simon Farnaby (Paddington 2), and will direct the film in a manner similar to Guy Ritchie’s Aladdin combining both animated characters and real-world sets and people. Both films will be produced by Andrew Miano and Weitz through their banner Depth of Field, with Jack Rapke and Jackie Levine set to executive produce the puppet project.
Paul King, director of both Paddington and Paddington 2, was originally attached to helm Pinocchio but apparently vacated the film at some point last year. Andrew Miano and Chris Weitz are set to produce, with King, Weitz and Simon Farnaby having penned the script.
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Pinocchio will center on the wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a “real boy,” and the relationship between a father and son, the ramifications of lying and creating stories and living in a fantasy world.
The original Pinocchio, based on the 1883 novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi, first debuted in theaters in 1940 and won two Academy Awards. In the 1940 Disney-animated film Pinocchio, the lead role was voiced by Dickie Jones, Jiminy Cricket by Cliff Edwards, and Master Geppetto by Christian Rubb.
Zemeckis is currently in post-production on his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches for Warner Bros. starring Anne Hathaway.
