First Look At Tom Hanks As Geppetto In Disney's Pinocchio Remake

Thanks to Disney Studios, fans can see Tom Hanks transformed into Geppetto for the live-action remake of the animated classicPinocchio, which is set for release on Disney Plus in 2022.

Robert Zemeckis, the genius behindForrest Gump,Back to the Future, andAllied, is directing the remake of the classic 1940s animatedDisneyfilm, which was adapted from Carlo Collodi’s children’s novelThe adventures of Pinocchio. Zemeckis also wrote the screenplay forPinocchiowith Chris Weitz, who is partnered with Andre Milano as producer.

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The Disney Plus release boasts an impressive cast starring Hanks as Geppetto, Joseph Gorden-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket, Luke Evans as the sly coachman, and Benjamin Evan Ainsworth as the real boy -Pinocchio. The story starts with Geppetto, a toy-maker who is desperate for a child and makes the puppetPinocchioout of wood. The new Disney photo shows Hanks with unruly white hair and a scruffy mustache in front of a yet-to-come-alivePinocchiositting on his workbench. The remake has stayed true to theoriginals' design of Pinocchio, with his yellow hat with the red feather, alpine style clothing, and extremely similar face.

However, this isn’t Disney’s first attempt at remakingPinocchio, as a few years back they began working on the classic with director Paul King after his sequel forPaddington 2became a huge success, but nothing came of it. Warner Brothers had also announced their own Pinocchio movie with Robert Downey Jr. set to play bothPinocchioand Geppetto with Ron Howard as the director. But was stalled for unknown reasons. Also,Guillermo del Toro’s version ofPinocchiois also set to release this year on the streaming service Netflix, which will certainly lend a sinister retelling in del Toro’s distinct style.

Following the huge successes of Disney’s live-action remakes ofBeauty and the Beast,Cinderella,Maleficent,Cruella,The Lion King, andAladdin, it comes to no real surprise that Disney is now reinvesting its time into creating a live-action version ofPinocchio, playing to the memories of many people who watchedPinocchioas children. Disney will be evolving into a nostalgia trip for fans as the studio plans to release other upcoming live-action remakes of its animated classics, such asThe Little Mermaid, which is scheduled for June 21, 2025, andPeter Pan & Wendy.

Pinocchiois scheduled to release as a Disney Plus exclusive in September 2022.