Paddington’s Paul King in talks to direct Disney’s live-action Pinocchio

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

After the success of the wildly popular and exceptionally sweet PADDINGTON movies, the second of which still holds an astounding 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems that writer/director Paul King is very much in demand, and one of his next projects may see King moving to Disney to helm their live-action adaption of PINOCCHIO.

Paul King is in talks to direct PINOCCHIO, one of Disney's many (and I do mean many) live-action reimaginings of their classic animated films, but he's not the first director to be in this position. Last year it had been reported that Sam Mendes (SPECTRE) was in early talks to develop the project, but he later dropped out. While I'm still not completely onboard with this whole live-action adaptation trend (rabble rabble), I can't help but feel a twinge of wonder and excitement in regards to Paul King being handed the keys to a Disney icon. Jack Thorne (WONDER) is rewriting the script for PINOCCHIO and the studio is hoping that production will kick off this fall. As for King, this isn't the first major project to come his way on the heels of the success of PADDINGTON 2, as he's also set to direct WILLY WONKA for Warner Bros., a reimagining of Roald Dahl's "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

Is Paul King the man to bring PINOCCHIO to life…again?