Disney has just a brand new promotional image of the currently in development Live-Action Remake of Disney’s 1940 film Pinocchio. The promotional image shows actor Tom Hanks as the old toymaker Geppetto. He can be seen leaning in towards the lifeless puppet before the Blue Fairy works her magic.
The design for Pinocchio himself is somewhat curious since they decided to copy the design of the original exactly instead of a redesign like many of Disney’s other Live-Action Remakes. Tom Hanks also appears to be wearing a costume similar to the original cartoon version, minus the glasses.
In addition to Tom Hanks playing Geppetto, Cynthia Erivo will be playing The Blue Fairy, Luke Evans will portray The Coachman, Joseph Gordon Levitt will be voicing Jimmy Cricket, Keegan-Michael Key will voice Honest John, Lorraine Bracco will be voicing a new character Sofia the Seagull and finally child actor Benjamin Evan Ainsworth will be voicing the dancing puppet himself.
The film is being directed by Robert Zemeckis, known for live action films like the Back to the Future trilogy, 1985’s Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, 1994’s Forrest Gump and 2000’s Cast Away. Zemeckis is also known for his animated films via his ImageMovers Digital Company with 2004’s The Polar Express, 2007’s Beowulf, 2009’s A Christmas Carol and 2011’s Mars Needs Moms.
The film is set to release exclusively on Disney Plus in September later this year, skipping theaters. Though the film will have some competition from the upcoming Guillermo del Toro version of the classic fairy tale which is scheduled to release later in December. There’s also the infamously awful looking Pinocchio: A True Story by Lionsgate releasing sometime later this year.
This is somewhat similar to the time Disney remake The Jungle Book in 2016 while Warner Bros. and Netflix released Mowgli around the same time.
Source: Entertainment Weekly
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