It’s been a long time since we’ve talked about producer Dan Jinks trying to get a live action version of Pinocchio together over at Warner Bros. So long that many people probably assumed that the project was dead. That’s not the case though. As a matter of fact, it’s probably about to get quite a bit of attention. THR is reporting that none other than Tim F’n Burton has taken an interest in the Pinocchio script, which was written by Pushing Daisies creator Bryan Fuller. And I know what you’re thinking already…who wants to see a version of Pinocchio starring Johnny Depp as the puppet and Helena Bonham Carter as Geppetto in drag? Don’t be so quick to judge. Early reports don’t say anything about Depp or Carter at all. As a matter of fact, apparently Burton wants Robert Downey Jr. to come on board to be his Italian puppeteer. How’s that for a switch?

Deadline Celebration reports that a new 3D stop-motion animated Pinocchio, based on the images from a Gris Grimly illustrated version of Carlo Collodi’s classic fairy tale and co-directed by Grimly and The Fantastic Mr. Fox’s Mark Gustafson, is in the works. The script was written By Del Toro and his frequent collaborator Matthew Robbins (Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark), and every pain seems to have been taken by everyone involved to come up with something that is going to scare the bejesus out of your kids. When explaining why he wants to make little girls cry, Guillermo del Toro said, “There has to be darkness in any fairy tale or children’s narrative work, something the Brothers Grimm, Hans Christian Anderson and Walt Disney understood. We tend to call something Disney-fied, but a lot of people forget how powerfully disturbing the best animated Disney movies are, including those kids being turned into donkeys in Pinocchio. What we’re trying to do is present a Pinocchio that is more faithful to the take that Collodi wrote. That is more surreal and slightly darker than what we’ve seen before.” Okay, so read that again. People tend to forget how “powerfully disturbing” the Disney version of Pinocchio is; yet he feels that they must make something even more dark and surreal. As somebody that was completely freaked out by the concepts of donkey children and starving in the belly of a whale when I was five or so, I say hell yeah. This generation [Due to Content Scraping and Theft, we have been forced to try abbreviated feeds. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and woud very much appreciate you clicking through to view the full article on FilmSchoolRejects.com]

At first glance, the idea that Warners would want to make a movie about the little wooden boy whose nose grows when he tells a lie seems moronic. Not only has the tale been tried before to disastrous results, it’s also been tried before to transcendent results – giving the world a Disney version that continues to act as the prime example of the story’s existence on film. However, with Dan Jinks producing, it’s a bit of a different story. Jinks (funny name, serious producer) was on board for Pushing Daisies and for Big Fish, as well as Milk and American Beauty. The point? He has been involved in some great projects so dismissing him outright for shooting for the wishing star here is a bit premature. He’s going to need help. That’s where this handy guide comes in. If you’re thinking about making a movie about Pinocchio, here’s a simple way to make it great.

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No, the Hellboy and Pan’s Labyrinth director isn’t making gay porn. Yes, he is set to create a darker version of the classic tale, Pinocchio.

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