Guillermo Del Toro to Direct Pinocchio Animated Movie For Netflix

CBR

By Sam Stone

Published Oct 22, 2018

Guillermo del Toro's next project will mark his animated directorial debut with a stop-motion Pinocchio adaptation for Netflix.

Acclaimed filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has selected his next project, after winning Academy Awards for Best Picture and Best Director for last year's The Shape of Water.

Del Toro will officially make his debut in feature-length animation, serving as the co-writer, co-director and co-producer of a stop-motion musical adaptation of the classic fairy tale Pinocchio through Netflix.

The project is a longtime artistic ambition of del Toro's though the project was put on hold in 2013 after the disappointing box office earnings of stop-motion animated film Frankenweenie. While doing press for The Shape of Water last year, del Toro declared the project as "not happening" though the surprise success of the Academy Award-winning film put the project back into active development.

The upcoming animated Pinocchio film is reportedly set in the 1930s as Italy experiences the rise of fascism under dictator Benito Mussolini. Del Toro will co-write the film with Patrick McHale (Over the Garden Wall) and co-direct it with Mark Gustafson (Fantastic Mr. Fox).

The production marks the latest project produced through Netflix with the filmmaker developing the anthology horror series Guillermo Del Toro Presents 10 After Midnight for the premium streaming service as well as creating the Tales of Arcadia trilogy of animated series including the recently concluded Trollhunters.

(via Variety)