Back in October 2019, it was reported that Disney was eyeing
Back to the Future director Robert Zemeckis to helm their live-action remake of
Pinocchio. Turns out those reports were accurate and the Academy Award-winning director was indeed in talks with Disney up until recently.
Zemeckis will also co-write the film's script alongside Chris Weitz (
Bambi). It's speculated that production will kick off in Fall at the earliest with a $150 million budget. Andrew Miano and Chris Weitz (collectively known as Depth of Field) will produce —
as they are the recently announced, live-action remake of Bambi.
While the
Back to the Future trilogy is undoubtedly what Zemeckis is best known for; the director is also responsible for the likes of
Who Framed Roger Rabbit,
Forrest Gump,
Cast Away,
Romancing the Stone, and many more classics. Zemeckis recently finished up work on a reboot of
The Witches — which will star Anne Hathaway.
To be clear, this live-action remake of
Pinocchio is an entirely separate entity to the live-action
Pinocchio remake that fellow Academy Award-winning director Guillermo Del Toro is working on. That version is said to be a political parable and feature a much darker tone than anything you'd expect from Disney.
You can find out more about that version here.