Robert Zemeckis’ live-action Pinocchio movie with Tom Hanks as Geppetto may have lost its theatrical release in favor of a straight-to-Disney+ debut, but that doesn’t mean Disney cares about the film any less. In fact, the studio has reportedly called on one of the stars of a previous live-action remake to join the cast: According to Deadline, Luke Evans—who played Gaston in Beauty And The Beast—will be playing The Coachman in Pinocchio. For those who don’t recall Disney’s original film, The Coachman is a guy who lures bad little children to Pleasure Island so they can be turned into donkeys, with a Disney fan wiki referring to him as “one of the most evil, malevolent, hateful, cruel, sinister, and dangerous” Disney villains, which is pretty freakin’ hardcore. Hopefully Evans leans into that and plays The Coachman as the most vile bastard in the universe. After all, with lovable Tom Hanks playing the lovable Geppetto, the movie could use a little venom (not that Zemeckis is really known for that kind of darkness, give or take the death of Judge Doom).
Deadline doesn’t say when Pinocchio will hit Disney+, but seeing as how we don’t know who will play Geppetto’s precious wooden child (or, rather, who will serve as the human model for Zemeckis’ CG puppet character), it might be a while.