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…


Pinocchio_WorkshopSeriously, 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.