Robert Downey Jr. might not star on another "Iron Man" film yet, but the actor is getting another solo film soon. Acclaimed writer and director Paul Thomas Anderson has recently signed to pen, and possibly helm the upcoming live-action adaptation of Carlo Collodi's "Pinnochio" wherein the Tony Stark actor is slated to play the role of Gepetto.
According to Coming Soon, Warner Bros. and Team Downey are taking their live-action take on "Pinnochio" forward, having enlisted the highly-praised writer Paul Thomas Anderson to pen a new draft for the upcoming film. It was noted that Robert Downey Jr. has been developing the film for years and plans to appear in it as well, as the impoverished woodcarver and creator-turned-father of the titular wooden puppet.
Several scriptwriters have already made previous drafts, which Downey has been tweaking for several months now. As noted earlier by io9, Bryan Fuller ("Hannibal") and Jane Goldman ("Kick-Ass") first worked on the screenplay with directors Ben Stiller and Tim Burton in talks. "The Giver" writer Michael Mitnick penned the most recent draft of the movie, and no director is reportedly attached. It is predicted that if Anderson could not get the script right, he may be reined to direct the film instead.
Over the past few years, turning classic kids' fairy tales into live-action feature flicks has been in trend. Ever since Tim Burton has brought "Alice in Wonderland" to the big screen back in 2010, and Disney's "Maleficent" has smashed the box-office with its $758 million gross worldwide, the studios have been adapting these tales into live-action projects.
Following the success of "Cinderella", Disney is bringing "Beauty and the Beast" next to the silver screen on 2017, with Emma Watson in the lead and Bill Condon directing. "The Jungle Book" is also currently in the works with a scheduled April 2016 release. According to Time, Warner Bros. has been picking up same stories as well with Downey's "Pinocchio" and the 2017 "Jungle Book" which will star Benedict Cumberbatch, Christian Bale and Cate Blanchett.
Over at Universal, a live-action feature film of "The Little Mermaid" is also being developed. Sofia Coppola was as even supposed to do the titular role, although she later abandoned the project.
Meanwhile, the rest of the details for Downey's upcoming fairy tale adaptation are still under the wraps. Its most recent adaptation may have been reined as the worst films of the decade by Rotten Tomatoes, but with Anderson on board along with the biggest box-office star in Hollywood, it looks like "Pinnochio" could end up on a whole other level.
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