Disney Releases Teaser Trailer For Live-Action ‘Pinocchio’ Remake

A new teaser trailer has been released for Disney’s newest live-action film, Pinocchio. Based on the book by Carlo Collodi, Pinocchio is a folk tale that has been passed down through generations. From books to animated films and, now finally, just as its main character sought to find freedom in real life, has taken a life of its own.  

Directed by Robert Zemeckis, it stars Tom Hanks as Geppetto and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Jiminy Cricket—and though we only caught a tiny glimpse of the main star of the show, Benjamin Evan Ainsworth is set to play the eponymous character.

This live-action retelling of the story sets out to be a promising feat on Disney’s behalf. Zemeckis has worked with Hanks on other big-name projects such as Forrest Gump and Cast Away. Now they’re back and ready to take on Disney’s much-loved puppet. From the trailer, it looks like Disney and Zemeckis are working hard to keep it as close to the original animated film as possible. 

However, Pinocchio is seeing some heavy competition as two other remakes of the folk tale are set to be released this year as well, no thanks to the fact that the original Pinocchio story now lives in the public domain. From a Russian adaptation that has taken the internet by storm with its English dub and a Netflix stop-motion version by Guillermo del Torro and starring Ewan McGregor as del Torro’s reimagined version of Jiminy Cricket, Sebastian J. Cricket.  

The announcement of Pinocchio comes just as Disney announces a host of new shows on Disney+. It is also being released right on Disney Plus Day and would spark the start of the D23 Expo.  

[via The Hollywood Reporter and Polygon, cover image via Walt Disney Studios]