Following Dogman (a work in competition at the 2018 Cannes Film Festival), Roman director Matteo Garrone returns to focus on Pinocchio, the live-action horror based on Carlo Collodi's classic. The director had shelved the project to devote himself to Dogman (in theaters May 17) but now its horror film version of Pinocchio è nuovamente in pre-produzione. Il casting infatti è già in corso e l'inizio delle riprese è previsto a novembre.
Producing this new film adaptation of Pinocchio will be Garrone's Archimedes Productions in collaboration with Jean Labadie and Jeremy Thomas of HanWay Films (which of the same director has already financed The Tale of Tales and Dogman). HanWay Films also holds the distribution rights to. Pinocchio worldwide while Rai Cinema will collaborate on the film. Le Pacte, on the other hand, has obtained the rights for French theaters.
In the crew of Pinocchio appear Mark Coulier, the founder of Coulier Creatures who will do character design and prosthetics while Rachel Penfold (along with her One of Us) will take care of visual effects.
Unknown, however, is the cast that will take part in this new fairy tale by Matteo Garrone, whose version of the film, according to Jeremy Thomas' disclosure, will be closer to Carlo Collodi's literary text than the classic 1949 Walt Disney Company version.
Matteo Garrone was also responsible for writing the screenplay for this new film adaptation. The story of the film will be set in Collodi's home village and other towns in southern Italy. As in his The Tale of Tales, Pinocchio will be a black tale anchored in the past but also in reality.
