Disney Plus has finally announced an official release window for its live-action Pinocchio adaptation, headlined by Tom Hanks. The streaming service announced that the newest version of Pinocchio is going to be arriving sometime in late 2022.
There was a time when this particular film, as well as Emma Stone's Cruella and an upcoming Peter Pan live-action adaptation, were all going to be exclusively released in theaters. Then Disney Plus changed the way it did business, thanks in large part to the coronavirus pandemic. It appears the streaming service has seen some success offering these types of films either both in theaters and online, or even online only.
As part of those revised plans, Tom Hanks' next Disney Plus project will arrive on the platform in late summer or early fall of next year. Collider reports that the information was divulged during an investor call when Disney’s Chief Financial Officer, Christine M. McCarthy revealed the live-action Pinocchio film would release in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2022. That means that it could launch anytime from July to September of 2022.
The Disney Plus title will see the titular role of Pinocchio played by Benjamin Evan Ainsworth, who was most recently seen in Netflix's The Haunting of Bly Manor as Miles Wingrave. Hanks will play the role of Geppetto, the adoptive father of the puppet-turned-real-boy. Cynthia Erivo has been cast as the Blue Fairy, Luke Evans will take on the role of one of the main villains as The Coachman, Keegan-Michael Key will play Honest John, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt will be the famous voice of conscience, Jiminy Cricket. This live-action adaptation of Pinocchio will also have a new character introduced, as Lorraine Bracco will play Sofia the Seagull.
The live-action Pinocchio has been in development since early 2015, but it's gone through several restarts and changes in terms of writers and directors. While Tom Hanks was attached to the project from early on in the process, he once walked away. However, he came back to the project last year. During the investor's day last December, it was revealed that this project would launch exclusively on the Disney Plus streaming platform.
Hanks isn't the only big name attached to Pinocchio. Academy Award-winning director Robert Zemeckis is directing the film from a script that he helped write alongside producer Chris Weitz. Of course, Weitz has some experience working on Disney's latest live-action adaptations, as he wrote the 2015 reboot of Cinderella that was directed by Kenneth Branagh.
Pinocchio launches exclusively on Disney Plus in 2022.
Source: Collider