INT. GEPETTO’S WORKSHOP – NIGHT
Firelit. Dirty windows. Curls and curls of WOOD SHAVINGS on the floor.
A decrepit OLD MAN, fingers by callused by woodwork and gnarled with arthritis, PAINTS the rosy red cheek of a WOODEN PUPPET. The puppet smiles its LIFELESS SMILE. Frozen.
GEPETTO
(Italian accent)
You lookin’ real pretty now, boy.
Gonna dance for me, eh?
The puppet sits on a cluttered WORK TABLE. Chisels, brushes, mallets. Rasps and files. An assortment of RUSTED TOOLS… TOOLS MADE FOR MURDER! The puppet’s FINGERS TWITCH, almost imperceptibly…
Seriously, though. It’s happening. Not like you see it above, of course, but a man can dream. An exclusive at Deadline tells us that writer/filmmaker Peter Hedges (The Odd Life of Timothy Green) is penning a loose adaptation of Pinocchio for Disney’s long train of live-action remakes. There are no further details at this time, but somehow I think we all knew this was coming. Who should direct? I’m thinking Guiller— no, he’s already got a stop motion Pinocchio cooking. Drew wants Roman Polanski. I’m strangely okay with that, but how ’bout Malick? I want lots of contemplative puppet voiceover.