Thanks in large part to his work on the Paddington films, Paul King is a director who has clearly caught the eye of Hollywood. Already linked to a new take on Willy Wonka, he's also now in talks to direct Disney's live-action version of Pinocchio.
Just one of the many movies the Mouse House is drawing from its back catalogue of animated classics adapted from fairy tales, the tale of the living puppet who yearns to be a real boy has been in the works for a while. Most recently, Sam Mendes was attached to direct, though he's since left the project.
King is a more than able replacement, and he'd be working from a script that is being rewritten by Jack Thorne. That assumes, of course, that King makes a deal, but Disney is looking to have the film shooting before the year is out, so we can expect it to leap ahead of the Wonka origin film.
Next up in Disney's list of live-action adventures is Winnie The Pooh-adjacent tale Christopher Robin, due here on 17 August and the technically-in-the-same-category Mary Poppins Returns on 21 December.
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