Paddington director Paul King to helm Pinocchio

Paddington filmmaker Paul King has signed on to direct a live-action version of beloved fairytale Pinocchio.
Sam Mendes dropped out of directing the movie last year (17) and King has now stepped in to replace him.
Chris Weitz, who penned the initial Pinocchio script about a wooden puppet who dreams of becoming a real boy, will produce the movie through his company Depth of Field. Jack Thorne has been recruited to re-write the script. Movie bosses are planning to begin production in the autumn (18).
King’s new version of the classic Carlo Collodi tale, The Adventures of Pinocchio, will be the fifth Pinocchio movie to hit the big screen this century – Italian Oscar winner Roberto Benigni directed his version in 2002, while Julia Andrews, Drew Carey, and Julia Louis Dreyfus starred in 2000’s Geppetto, and Daniel Robichaud directed Pinocchio 3000 in 2004.
The most recent version was 2012’s animated Pinocchio, adapted and directed by Enzo D’Alo.
The late Bob Hoskins also led the cast of a Pinocchio mini-series, which aired in the U.K. in 2008.
Disney’s classic animated version of Collodi’s story was released in February, 1940. It was the second animated feature film produced by Walt Disney and featured the song When You Wish Upon a Star, which became Disney’s theme.
Meanwhile, earlier this month (Feb18), sources revealed King was in talks to direct a Charlie and the Chocolate Factory prequel, which will focus on Willy Wonka’s life before Roald Dahl’s beloved story.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, he has signed on to take charge of the project, but it is unclear when the film will go into production.