Among the grand pantheon of Movies Guillermo Del Toro Swears He’s Going To Get Around To Making, One Of These Days, the director’s long-fabled production of Pinocchio has got to be somewhere near the top. (It’s no At The Mountains Of Madness, sure, but considering that the project dates back to 2008 or so, it’s still a pretty long stretch of make-believe.) Now, though, it looks like Del Toro’s stop-motion adaptation of Carlo Collodi’s 1883 classic is well and truly moving forward, courtesy of Netflix—and, damn, but that’s a good cast for a Pinocchio movie.
Aside from newcomer Gregory Mann as the wooden child himself, the cast list released by Netflix today is pretty much just a big ol’ bucket of ringers, from Ewan McGregor as “The Talking Cricket,” to Tilda Swinton as “The Fairy With Turquoise Hair,” to Christoph Waltz as the malevolent Fox and Cat. Counting Waltz, Swinton, and Cate Blanchett (in a not-yet-announced part), that’s three Oscar winners right there, to say nothing of John Turturro, Tim Blake Nelson, Finn Wolfhard, and Burn Gorman—plus Harry Potter alum David Bradley as Gepetto, and Del Toro favorite Ron Perlman as evil puppet master Mangiafuoco. (That’s mid-movie bad guyStromboli, if you’re only familiar with the Disney movie.)
If this were anybody else’s take on the story, we’d argue that this cast is probably Too Damn Good for a Pinocchio movie. (After all, isn’t a part as bland as Geppetto more Drew Carey’s speed?) But Del Toro—who hasn’t directed a movie since his 2017 Best Picture winner The Shape Of Water—has definitely earned some reciprocal passion for his passion projects like this, especially since his take on the film (set during Mussolini’s Italy, and co-directed by The Fantastic Mr. Fox’s Mark Gustafson) sounds legitimately fascinating, to boot.
29 Comments
Hey, I nose most of those actors.
Liar.
I question the casting of Finn Wolfhard, I really do.
I can’t even remember what Finn Wolfhard sounds like.
Be careful – one of the early warning signs of COVID is losing your sense of smell, losing your sense of taste, and losing your memory of what Finn Wolfhard sounds like.
Natalie Portman.
Slab Manbeef
Great. Beaten to the MST3K/”Space Mutiny” reference by…. [[checks computer’s time]] …2 hours, 40-odd minutes.
Could be worse, I guess.
I’m just glad he’s not in the lead. I know he’s still a kid, but he’s kind of a terrible actor. That said, he’d be voice acting here so he wouldn’t be mugging for the camera at every opportunity like in It
Wait. I thought he was working on a live action with Tom Hanks. Who’s doing that then?
Zemeckis. That one will be based on the Disney movie, del Toro’s is a darker take on the source material.
I’m surprised that Jose Altuve of the Astros* isn’t voicing Pinocchio.Because he lies.
“Christoph Waltz as the malevolent Fox and Cat”Both? Or just bad editing?
No, apparently both.
So there’s one change from the source material, right there.Unless Walz has a surprisingly convincing feminine voice.
I wouldn’t put that beyond him… 🙂
I get that it’s his most recognizable role, but it still disappoints me that Bradley’s reference point these days is Harry Potter.
I’m not even talking with regards to Rowling’s fucked up politics, it’s more just…even in recent years, he’s had roles he’s gotten to do far more with by comparison.
Hell, had GoT not beefed that last season, I’d argue Walder Frey would be a more reliable touch point for him simply because it gave him more to do than just scowl at children. Hell, he got to be a major player for one of the show’s more infamous (in a good way) episodes.
Also, not as recognized, but in terms of previous work with Del Toro, I remember him being one of the overall better things The Strain had going for it.
Wish it was something original. He is too good to be doing remakes.
I don’t think he is remaking the Disney version.
The book is great source material for Del Toro. Lots of really weird, creepy stuff to work with.
Since it’s on Netflix and not Disney I’d assume that’s true.
if he’s doing the original story, Pinocchio get’s fucking lynched at one point.
Luckily, only one of the performances needs to be wooden.
Wow, an all-white Pinocchio! Cool!
Glad to see Tilda Swinton and Cate Blanchett both in the same movie, as I frequently get them mixed up.
Ewan McGregor was fine in Robots, although the Cricket is definitely going to be a different type of character altogether from Rodney Copperbottom. And Ron Perlman, of course, usually gives one of the best voice performances in any project he’s involved with. As for the others, I’ll have to trust that Del Toro is casting based on voice acting ability rather than star power, but it’s a promising-looking list.
I actually wanted Swinton and Blanchett to play boozy sisters in a comedy, but I’ll take this too.
Someone recently dropped the idea of a remake of Heat starring the two of them. I would literally kill another human being to see that. Several, depending on the director.
I’m cautiously optimistic about this, even though I’ll watch any/everything that Del Toro is involved with. Did have to do the checklist though, and…hmmm…yep, Ron Perlman? I’m sold.