Disney is now starting work on a live-action version of Pinocchio, which is just as unnecessary as a live-action Dumbo.
Deadline is reporting that Peter Hedges was hired to write the movie, which will be loosely based on Carlo Collodi’s 1883 novel. Hedges was nominated for an Oscar for co-writing About A Boy with Chris Weitz (who is writing Disney’s Star Wars: Rebel One) and Paul Weitz. He also directed Disney’s The Odd Life of Timothy Green.
This is the third live-action adaptation of an animated film Disney has started developing in just two weeks. Mulan got moving last week, and Winnie The Pooh got a write a couple of days later. Dumbo started development early last month.
The studio already has The Jungle Book coming next year and Cinderella is still in theaters. Beauty and the Beast is coming in 2017.
Pinocchio was first adapted by the studio in 1940 and was one of Walt Disney’s most ambitious projects, especially as Fantasia was being made at the same time. It wasn’t a hit like Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, thanks to its dark tone and the fact that World War II cut off the European market. Still, it did introduce the song “When You Wish Upon A Star,” which won the Oscar for Best Original Song.
There have also been live action versions produced by other studios, including Roberto Benigni’s 2002 movie.
Guillermo Del Toro is also trying to make a stop-motion 3D film, which foreign financiers have been interested in, notes Deadline.