Robert Zemeckis in talks to direct Disney’s live-action Pinocchio

Disney’s live-action Pinocchio remake might be directed by Oscar-winner Robert Zemeckis (Forrest Gump, Back to the Future). According to sources, Zemeckis’ longtime collaborator Tom Hanks was at one point in talks to play Geppetto, but now the search is on for a new star to fill that role.

Zemeckis intends to bring the titular puppet, but it seems likely he would employ the performance capture techniques he used on earlier films like The Polar Express and Beowulf. The last film he did in that style, 2009’s A Christmas Carol, was also for Disney. He had planned to make a version of The Beatles’ Yellow Submarine in performance capture, but Disney canceled that film.

Paul King, director of both Paddington and Paddington 2, was originally attached to helm Pinocchio but left the project at some point last year. Andrew Miano and Chris Weitz are set to produce, with King, Weitz, and Simon Farnaby having penned the script.

Pinocchio will center on the wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a 'real boy', as well as 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. 

Zemeckis is currently in post-production for his adaptation of Roald Dahl’s The Witches for Warner Bros, starring Anne Hathaway.