During the 66th BFI London Film Festival, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio will have its global debut, as reported by Deadline. During the festival, which begins on October 5, the Academy Award-winning director’s new take on the traditional fairy tale of the wooden puppet that is transformed into a real boy will have its global premiere in the Royal Festival Hall. In the children’s story Pinocchio, a wooden toy comes to life after its creator, Geppetto, makes a wish upon a star. Del Toro’s interpretation, as hinted at by the Cricket in the promotional material, views it as a tale of “flawed dads and imperfect sons” and of “love and grief.”
The renowned filmmaker has stated that Pinocchio is a “personal movie” for him and that “the flip-side for me [has] always been Pinocchio & Frankenstein, are the same narrative” in a prior interview. To put it simply, it’s the same tale. It’s really meaningful to me that there could be a Pinocchio that addresses issues that I deem profound while yet being lighthearted and melodic. The trademark of this Mexican filmmaker is a bleak take on traditional fairy tales. The special effects and photography of his dark fantasy Pan’s Labyrinth (2006), which won an Oscar and was a spiritual sequel to his 2001 film Devil’s Backbone, were much praised.
Del Toro has selected a stop-motion animation approach for Pinocchio, which lends drama to the film’s fanciful rendition of the stories and myths. In the trailer, the sage Cricket narrates a father-son story full of miracles set to music composed by Academy Award winner Alexandre Desplat. Del Toro and Mark Gustafson helm the feature film from a script developed by Del Toro and Patrick McHale. Working with Gary Ungar, Alex Bulkley, Corey Campodonico, and Lisa Henson of the Jim Henson Company, he serves as a producer. Ewan McGregor plays Cricket, David Bradley is Geppetto, and Gregory Mann is Pinocchio in this film’s all-star cast. It also stars Tilda Swinton, Christoph Waltz, and Tim Blake Nelson in addition to Cate Blanchett, Finn Wolfhard, Ron Perlman, John Turturro, and Burn Gorman.
The film will have its global debut at the BFI and then be released in theatres by Netflix in November, with a streaming release in December.