Upcoming film by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio (or simply Pinocchio) is an upcoming stop-motion animated musical fantasy film directed by Guillermo del Toro and Mark Gustafson, based on Gris Grimly's design from his 2002 edition of the 1883 Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio by Carlo Collodi. It marks the animated feature film directorial debut of del Toro. The film was written by del Toro and Patrick McHale and stars the voices of Ewan McGregor, David Bradley, Gregory Mann, Finn Wolfhard, Cate Blanchett, John Turturro, Ron Perlman, Tim Blake Nelson, Burn Gorman, Christoph Waltz and Tilda Swinton.
Produced by Netflix Animation, The Jim Henson Company and ShadowMachine in co-production with Pathé, El Taller del Chucho, and Necropia Entertainment, Pinocchio was announced by Del Toro in 2008 and originally scheduled to be released in 2013 or 2014, but the project went into development hell. In January 2017, McHale was announced to co-write the script, but in November 2017, the production was suspended as no studios were willing to provide financing. The production was revived the following year after being acquired by Netflix.
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio is scheduled to be released in select theaters in November 2022, followed by its streaming release on Netflix in December 2022. It is one of three 2022 Pinocchio-based films, the others being Pinocchio: A True Story and the Disney's live-action adaptation.
Premise
A retelling of the famous Carlo Collodi fairytale about a wooden puppet who comes to life and dreams of becoming a real boy takes place in 1930s Fascist Italy. When Pinocchio comes to life, however, he turns out not to be a nice boy but instead the opposite, causing mischief and playing mean tricks. But at its core, Pinocchio is "a story of love and disobedience as Pinocchio struggles to live up to his father's expectations, learning the true meaning of life."[5]
Production
Development
In 2008, Guillermo del Toro announced that his next project, a darker adaptation of the Italian novel The Adventures of Pinocchio, was in development. He has called Pinocchio his passion project, stating that: "no art form has influenced my life and my work more than animation and no single character in history has had as deep of a personal connection to me as Pinocchio", and "I've wanted to make this movie for as long as I can remember".[7] On February 17, 2011, it was announced that Gris Grimly and Mark Gustafson would co-direct a stop-motion animated Pinocchio film written by del Toro alongside his long-time collaborator Matthew Robbins, and Grimly based by Grimly's designs, with del Toro producing along with The Jim Henson Company and Pathé.[8] On May 17, 2012, del Toro took over for Grimly.[9] In February 2012, Del Toro released some concept arts with the designs of Pinocchio, Geppetto, the Talking Cricket, Mangiafuoco and the Fox and the Cat. On July 30, 2012, it was announced that the film would be produced and animated by ShadowMachine. It was originally scheduled to be released in 2013 or 2014,[10] but the project went into development hell, with no further informations for years.
On January 23, 2017, Patrick McHale was announced to co-write the script with del Toro.[11] On August 31, 2017, del Toro told IndieWire and at the 74th Venice International Film Festival that the film will need a budget increase of $35 million more dollars or it would be cancelled.[12] On November 8, 2017, he reported that the project was not happening, because no studios were willing to finance it.[13] At one point, Matthew Robbins considered making the film as a 2D-animated film with French artist Joann Sfar to bring the costs down, but del Toro eventually decided that it had to be stop-motion, even if the higher budget made it harder to get greenlit.[14] However, on October 22, 2018, it was announced that the film had been revived, with Netflix acquiring it.[15]
Casting
On January 31, 2020, it was announced Ron Perlman, Tilda Swinton, Ewan McGregor, Christoph Waltz and David Bradley had joined the cast of the film.[16] Daniel Radcliffe, Tom Waits and Christopher Walken were previously considered. Radcliffe would later instead remain as executive producer of the movie.[17] On August 19, 2020, Gregory Mann, Cate Blanchett, Tim Blake Nelson, Finn Wolfhard, John Turturro and Burn Gorman joined the cast of the film.[18]
Filming
Filming commenced in Guadalajara, Mexico and Portland, Oregon by January 31, 2020.[16]
Visual effects
Moving Picture Company worked on the visual effects for the movie.
Music
On January 8, 2020, Alexandre Desplat started composing the film's score, as well as writing original songs for the film.[2] The film marks the second time Desplat and del Toro collaborated on a film, the first being The Shape of Water.[2] On August 23, 2012, Nick Cave was originally attached to compose the score for the film before he was replaced as the film's composer by Deplat 8 years later.[19]
Release
In November 2018, Netflix set the film's release date for 2021.[20] In January 2021, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos revealed that the film's release could be moved to 2022 or later, with Netflix's notion of releasing six animated films a year.[21] In December 2021, del Toro stated it will be released in the last quarter of 2022.[22] In January and July 2022, with the release of the film's first prologue, it was announced for a December release.[23]
The film is scheduled to be released in select cinemas in November 2022, before streaming on Netflix in December 2022.[24]
