Tom Hanks in talks to play Geppetto in Disney's live-action Pinocchio remake

Tom Hanks is in negotiations to play the kindly woodcarver Geppetto in a live-action remake of Pinocchio.

The project is being directed by Back to the Future filmmaker Robert Zemeckis, who previously worked with Hanks on Cast Away, Forrest Gump and The Polar Express.

Disney’s original animated Pinocchio adaptation was released in 1940.

The story focuses on Geppetto as he carves a wooden puppet whom he calls Pinocchio, who is given life by a magic fairy. Pinocchio then embarks on a self-actualising quest to become a “real boy”.

Both films are based on Carlo Collodi’s 1883 children’s novel The Adventures of Pinocchio.

The script for the remake will be written by Chris Weitz, one of the directors of American Pie, who recently wrote for the Disney projects Cinderella and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.

While Hanks may seem like an obvious choice for Geppetto, given the actor’s benevolent persona, he is set to act against type when he portrays controversial talent manager Colonel Tom Parker in an forthcoming Elvis Presley biopic.

It was while filming the biopic in Australia that Hanks and his wife, Rita Wilson, contracted coronavirus earlier this year.

The actor has since made a full recovery.

Read more

RIP box sets: How streaming lets classic TV slip through the cracks

Why all the fuss over a same-sex kiss on CBBC?

How Ellen DeGeneres came to be accused of enabling a toxic workplace