Announced way back in 2018 by the streamer, the wait for Guillermo del Toro‘s stop-motion Pinocchio movie could have just gotten even longer. Matt Neglia of Next Best Picture brings word of the news, tweeting that the animated movie has seemingly been delayed from a 2021 debut to 2022. Though the reporter didn’t reveal the reason for the film potentially being pushed back, it’s possible that del Toro and Netflix didn’t want to overcrowd his own Oscar prospects. Del Toro’s Nightmare Alley, a new live-action film he directed from Searchlight Pictures, is set for December 3 of this year and is sure to have Oscar buzz (like Pinocchio could have too).
Netflix previously confirmed the cast for del Toro’s version of the classic tale which has newcomer Gregory Mann voicing Pinocchio, plus Ewan McGregor as Cricket, and David Bradley as Gepetto. Others confirmed to be in the film are Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, and Burn Gorman. The official description for the movie reads:
“Set during the rise of Fascism in Mussolini’s Italy, PINOCCHIO — a musical directed by del Toro and Mark Gustafson (FANTASTIC MR. FOX) with a score by Alexandre Desplat — is a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father’s expectations.”
We’re being told now that Guillermo del Toro’s PINOCCHIO will be pushed to 2022 https://t.co/uBgp26LSBC
— Matt Neglia (@NextBestPicture) August 4, 2021
“After years of pursuing this dream project, I found my perfect partner in Netflix,” del Toro previously said in a statement. “We have spent a long time curating a remarkable cast and crew and have been blessed by continuous support from Netflix to quietly and carefully soldier on, barely missing a beat. We all love and practice animation with great passion and believe it to be the ideal medium to retell this classic story in a completely new way.”
Del Toro and Patrick McHale wrote the script which features song lyrics by del Toro and Katz. Gris Grimly created the original design for the Pinocchio character while the film’s puppets were built by Mackinnon and Saunders (Corpse Bride).
Pinocchio is produced by del Toro, The Jim Henson Company’s Lisa Henson, ShadowMachine’s Alex Bulkley and Corey Campodonico, as well as Exile Entertainment’s Gary Ungar; it is co-produced by Blanca Lista of The Jim Henson Company and Gris Grimly.