Continuing the welcome, somewhat confusing trend of handing over big-budget children’s movies to indie and arthouse directors (see: David Lowery’s upcoming Pete’s Dragon, Alex Ross Perry writing Winnie The Pooh, and Sofia Coppola’s brief involvement with The Little Mermaid), Warner Bros. has announced that its upcoming live-action Pinocchio will be scripted by Paul Thomas Anderson. At present, Anderson is only attached as a screenwriter, though it should be noted that he’s never written something he didn’t also direct.
Variety reports that the project is being co-produced by Downey and his wife, Susan, through their Team Downey production company. The project has been in development for some time, with Tim Burton attached to direct at one point. It’ll be competing with another live-action Pinocchio, this one produced by Disney. Downey—who was up for the lead role in Anderson’s last film, Inherent Vice—will star as Pinocchio’s kindly creator, Geppetto.
In the meantime, audiences can look forward to a re-imagining of Peter Pan by the director of Atonement and a Beauty And The Beast from the director of Gods & Monsters, because fairy tales are the new comic books and Hollywood is a weird place.